May Cooler Heads Prevail

Posted on January 11, 2011 | Comments Off on May Cooler Heads Prevail

Comments Off on May Cooler Heads Prevail

Posted in Everybody Panic

Tagged , , , , , ,

Bagels Are a Threat to Aviation Security

Posted on January 11, 2011 | Comments Off on Bagels Are a Threat to Aviation Security

A college professor flying to Washington, D.C. was forcibly removed from a US Airways flight after passengers reported that he put a suspicious package in an overhead bin.

What was inside? “[K]eys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.”

Comments Off on Bagels Are a Threat to Aviation Security

Posted in Security Theater

Tagged , , , ,

The Wisdom of Philosophers

Posted on January 11, 2011 | Comments Off on The Wisdom of Philosophers

“There is nothing so absurd which has not sometimes been asserted by some philosophers.”

-Cicero, De Divinatione, ii, 58.

Comments Off on The Wisdom of Philosophers

Posted in Great Thinkers, Philosophy, Pith

Tagged , , , , ,

What “International Tax Harmonization” Means

Posted on January 10, 2011 | Comments Off on What “International Tax Harmonization” Means

“There is no art which one government sooner learns of another, than that of draining money from the pockets of the people.”

-Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, p. 929.

Comments Off on What “International Tax Harmonization” Means

Posted in Books, Economics, Great Thinkers, Taxation

Tagged , , , ,

CEI Podcast for January 6, 2011: DC’s Plastic Bag Tax

Posted on January 6, 2011 | Comments Off on CEI Podcast for January 6, 2011: DC’s Plastic Bag Tax

Have a listen here.

Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellow Kathryn Ciano talks about Washington, DC’s five-cent tax on plastic bags. While plastic bag use has dropped from about 87 million per year to 55 million per year, it has only raised a little more than half the expected revenue. The Anacostia River also remains as dirty as ever; the tax was put into place to fund cleanup efforts.

Comments Off on CEI Podcast for January 6, 2011: DC’s Plastic Bag Tax

Posted in CEI Podcast, Economics, Nanny State, Taxation

Tagged , , , ,

A New Record for the Federal Register?

Posted on January 6, 2011 | Comments Off on A New Record for the Federal Register?

This article quotes me on the 2010 Federal Register. When the adjusted page count becomes available, it could break President Bush’s all-time record of 79,435 pages. The unadjusted length is 82,589 pages, and the adjustment is expected to decrease that by a thousand pages or so.

Comments Off on A New Record for the Federal Register?

Posted in Media Appearances, regulation

Keep an Eye On Your Luggage

Posted on January 5, 2011 | Comments Off on Keep an Eye On Your Luggage

Troy Davis, a TSA screener who admitted to stealing five laptops and a Playstation from passengers’ luggage, will avoid jail.

Comments Off on Keep an Eye On Your Luggage

Posted in Security Theater

Tagged , , ,

Vulture Arrested for Espionage

Posted on January 5, 2011 | Comments Off on Vulture Arrested for Espionage

Saudi Arabian police arrested a vulture that they believed to be a Mossad spy. Scientists at Tel Aviv University tagged the bird so they could study its migration patterns, which apparently include rural Saudi Arabia. Haaretz reports:

[R]esidents and local reporters told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Weeam newspaper that the matter seemed to be a “Zionist plot.”

The accusations went viral, with hundreds of posts on Arabic-language websites and forums claiming that the “Zionists” had trained these birds for espionage.

It is not clear if the bird’s guilt has been determined by Saudi authorities, or what its sentence will be.

Comments Off on Vulture Arrested for Espionage

Posted in General Foolishness, The Old Religion

New Jersey Trying to Seize Unused Gift Card Balances

Posted on January 3, 2011 | Comments Off on New Jersey Trying to Seize Unused Gift Card Balances

New Jersey residents with unused gift cards might want to make that trip to Target or Home Depot soon. The state legislature voted to seize the unused balances of all gift cards and traveler’s checks issued in the state before a certain date.

A judge struck down the law, but the state is appealing the ruling. By stealing the gift card balances from their owners, the state could raise up to $80 million.

That’s one way to fix a busted budget. Here’s another: spend less.

Comments Off on New Jersey Trying to Seize Unused Gift Card Balances

Posted in Economics, regulation, Spending, Taxation

Tagged , , , , , ,

Canadian Town Bans Pet Giraffes, Walruses

Posted on January 3, 2011 | Comments Off on Canadian Town Bans Pet Giraffes, Walruses

Having solved all other problems, the Morinville, Alberta town council is banning residents from owning 130 species as pets. Targeted animals include armadillos, elephants, giraffes, walruses (walri?), spiders, and kangaroos.

Comments Off on Canadian Town Bans Pet Giraffes, Walruses

Posted in Nanny State, regulation