Regulation of the Day 192: Fire Extinguishers

Posted on August 8, 2011 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 192: Fire Extinguishers

Britain has a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. It isn’t quite living up to its name, though. The group is pressing to ban fire extinguishers. They think it would prevent more accidents if residents fled burning buildings instead of fighting the flames themselves.

Many high-rise buildings are starting to take the Royal Society’s recommendation. Mike Edwards lives in one of those buildings. As he told Metro:

‘They are worried we will point them in the wrong direction or use the wrong extinguishers,’ he said. ‘But if you are trapped in a burning building, you will work out how to use one.’

So there you have it. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the risk of spraying yourself with a fire extinguisher outweighs the risk of burning to death.

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Brewers 7, Astros 3

Posted on August 8, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 7, Astros 3

The Brewers completed a sweep of the Astros yesterday. The Cardinals are keeping pace, though. They swept the Marlins by winning yesterday’s game 8-4.

That brings Milwaukee’s magic number to 45.

Both teams have today off, then play each other in a three-game series in St. Louis.

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Brewers 7, Astros 5

Posted on August 6, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 7, Astros 5

The Brewers win again. Meanwhile, the second-place Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins, 2-1. Milwaukee’s record moves to 64-50; St. Louis is now 61-53.

With 61 wins so far and 48 games to go, St. Louis has a maximum possible win total of 109. If the Cardinals win out the rest of the season, that means the Brewers would need 110 wins to guarantee winning the division. With their 64 wins, that would take 46 more wins to assure Milwaukee a playoff spot. That’s their magic number.

Of course, even the best team isn’t going to win 48 games in a row. Every Cardinal loss means one less victory the Brewers need to clinch.

That means any combination of Brewer victories and and Cardinal losses adding up to 46 will guarantee Milwaukee an NL Central division championship.

This also means that this blog’s previous magic number calculations were too high by 10; mea culpa.

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Lemonade Freedom Day in the Wall Street Journal

Posted on August 6, 2011 | Comments Off on Lemonade Freedom Day in the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal‘s “Notable and Quotable” section quotes this blogger on Lemonade Freedom Day. The link is here, or you can go to page A13 of the print edition.

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Posted in Media Appearances, Nanny State, regulation

What Shrinking Government?

Posted on August 6, 2011 | Comments Off on What Shrinking Government?

I have a letter to the editor in today’s Washington Post:

Richard Cohen fretted that Tea Party activists have “shrunk the government.” He need not worry. Federal spending has gone from $2.9 trillion in 2008 to $3.8 trillion in 2011. Thirty percent spending growth in three years is hardly shrinkage. Even under the Boehner plan, federal spending will continue to increase every year for at least the next decade.

Meanwhile, federal agencies continue to finalize more than 3,500 new regulations per year. They repeal almost none, no matter how loud the Tea Party’s howls.

If anything, Tea Party activists have been devastatingly ineffective at shrinking government. Mr. Cohen can rest easy.

Ryan Young, Washington

The writer is a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

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Brewers 8, Astros 1

Posted on August 5, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 8, Astros 1

Tonight’s victory means the Brewers’ magic number is now down to 57.

The Cardinals’ 3-2 win over the Florida Marlins means that getting it down to 56 will have to wait until at least tomorrow.

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Friday Fun

Posted on August 5, 2011 | Comments Off on Friday Fun

Nyjer Morgan plays center field for the Brewers. He’s also quite the character. This is how he greets Bob Uecker in the clubhouse:

It started in an empty clubhouse in Chicago, where a few repeated whispers of “Bob” had the announcer wondering where the sound was coming from. Uecker kept hearing his name and after walking through the clubhouse, he eventually realized that it was coming from Morgan’s locker. He looked inside and found the player hiding behind all of his clothing with a huge grin on his face.

Meanwhile, Steve Rushin has penned a lovely paeon to the city of Milwaukee and its baseball team.

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TSA Saves Country from Diabetic, Pregnant Terrorist

Posted on August 5, 2011 | Comments Off on TSA Saves Country from Diabetic, Pregnant Terrorist

A pregnant woman who suffers from diabetes got into trouble with the TSA in Denver. They allowed her to take through her needles and syringes. But they confiscated her insulin, claiming it was an explosives risk.

The woman and her husband have filed a formal complaint with the TSA. She spoke to Denver’s ABC affiliate on condition of anonymity; as a frequent traveler, she fears retaliation.

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CEI Podcast for August 4, 2011: Liberalizing Trade

Posted on August 4, 2011 | Comments Off on CEI Podcast for August 4, 2011: Liberalizing Trade

 

Have a listen here.

Congress is likely to take up stalled free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea when it returns from its August recess. Adjunct Fellow Fran Smith talks about the good and bad parts of the agreements. Billions of dollars of economic benefits are offset by trade-unrelated provisions, such as labor and environmental standards. These erode our trading partners’ lawmaking sovereignty. An increase in trade adjustment assistance also seems likely. This gives money and training to workers who lose their jobs because of international trade.

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Brewers 10, Cardinals 5

Posted on August 3, 2011 | Comments Off on Brewers 10, Cardinals 5

Thanks to three home runs from previously slumping 3B Casey McGehee, the Brewers’ magic number to clinch their division is down to 58.

Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy learned of an amusing subplot behind today’s game. Seinfeld fans will remember the episode where Yankees all-star Paul O-Neill promised to hit two home runs for a sick child.

Well, McGehee met a young fan before today’s game:

“This morning, I got to meet a little kid. His name’s Clayton,” McGehee said. “Clayton was being pretty shy and I kept asking him, ‘Do you have any questions for me?’ He wouldn’t ask me anything. Finally, jokingly, his dad asks me, ‘Why don’t you hit a home run for him?’”

McGehee scoffed. He’d hit five home runs all season, none since July 6 and one in his last 63 games.

“It it was that easy, I would have had one by now,” McGehee answered. “How about we just go for I don’t screw anything up for the kid today? That was good enough for him.”

Three home runs later, I think young Clayton will be a welcome presence in the Brewers’ clubhouse from now on.

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