Monthly Archives: January 2011
Food prices may have been too much straw for the camels of Egypt and Tunisia
In this article from the U.K. newspaper, The Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes about how increasing food prices and food scarcity, while not causing the tumult in Tunisia and Egypt, may have triggered recent riots and revolution in those countries, the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. When prices for major necessities, such as [...]
New rules for juvenile facilities may shut them down
John DeSantis at the Houma Courier wrote this story, “New state programs for kids raise concerns.” A seemingly well-meaning regulation to increase the quality of care for children in group homes or facilities, mostly supported by charitable organizations just may make operating these facilities too costly, putting them out of business. Then, children may just [...]
The TSA decides to eliminate their competition
In this article from CNN,”TSA shuts door on private airport screening program,” , reporters Mike Ahlers and Jeanne Meserve tell of the Transportation Safety Administration’s (TSA) decision to no longer allow airports to contract with private firms to provide screening services at airports instead of using the TSA. A program known as the Screening Partnership [...]
The Public Sector is Poorly Suited to Developing New Drugs
This past Tuesday, President Obama delivered the annual “State of the Union” message . His theme was “Winning the Future.” He correctly noted that a major component of winning the future is investment in research and development, the production of new technologies, new ways of doing things. President Obama noted: “The first step in winning [...]
Sometimes what everyone knows just ain’t so
Here is a “Special Report” from Reuters, titled “Special Report: Is America the sick man of the globe?” Reuters, a respected news organization, right? You would expect a little bit of fact checking, wouldn’t you? The author states, in passing, ”As U.S. manufacturing declined, starting in the 1980s Congress and successive administrations focused instead on the financial sector and relied [...]