Category: Current Events

NASA’s Curiosity rover, launched last November, is now less than two weeks away from Mars. There had been some fears that Odyssey, a satellite orbiting Mars, would not be lined up to watch Curiosity’s descent, but it has been nudged into the necessary orbit.

Continue reading Updates In Space Exploration

I briefly mocked this controversy a few days ago, but the impacts of outsourcing/offshoring are so misunderstood that I think it deserves a closer look. A couple weeks ago we learned that the US Olympic uniforms produced by Ralph Lauren were manufactured in China. This upset a lot of people, including some Democratic senators like Harry Reid, who thinks they should “burn them and start all over,” and Chuck Schumer, who wants to require Olympic uniforms to be made in America. Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan is also upset.

These reactions are silly. Do we care if the athletes eat fruit from South America or grains from Asia? Does Chuck Schumer care if his clothes are made in America?

You don’t even have to believe widely accepted economic theories about comparative advantage to see that free trade works for everyone, even within the Olympics. Mark Perry points out that “the Brazilian Olympic equestrian team is using saddle pads produced by Wilker’s Custom Horse Products in Cool Springs, Tennessee.” Daniel Ikenson at Cato observes:

Continue reading It Doesn’t Matter Where US Olympic Uniforms Are Made

Last night I watched Home Alone, the 1990 hit film about a boy who is accidentally left at home and defends himself from a couple of dumb burglars. I couldn’t help thinking about many of the interesting ways life has changed in the last twenty years.

1. VCRs were worth stealing. It’s hilarious that the crooks are excited about breaking into the McCallister home because of its “stereos” and “VCRs.” VCRs had become much cheaper and popular by 1990 (Somewhere around 65-70% of households owned one), and based on multiple anecdotes from highly scientific Google searches it looks like they were available around the $200 range (about $357 in 2012 dollars), though more expensive ones existed. Common, valuable, easy to steal.

Today, of course, you can get VCRs for $20 or less at thrift stores. Almost 80% of households own the newer DVD players, of which numerous models exist for under $50. Blu-Ray DVD players are easily found in the $100 range. So after 20 years, more households have much better technology that is much cheaper to buy, even before factoring inflation. Sometimes capitalism is awesome like that.

Continue reading The Economics of Home Alone

There’s a petition over on the White House website to “Require the Transportation Security Administration to Follow the Law!” A federal appeals court ordered the TSA to do some stuff a year ago and they still haven’t done it. Unlike most meaningless Internet petitions, if this petition gets to 25,000 signatures in 30 days the White House will issue a response – and it’s already about halfway there after five days.

Continue reading White House Petitions and the TSA

Is it just me, or are the maddening hypocritical focuses of Democrats and the media even more maddening than usual lately?

They’re obsessed that Romney used the word “Obamacare” at an NAACP speech, but they don’t care that Obama and many other liberals have used the same word many times.

They’re obsessed with getting Romney to release his old tax returns, but they don’t care that Obama won’t release his old college transcripts.

They’re obsessed with Romney’s contradictions about his past work at Bain, but they don’t care about Obama’s contradictions about his past involvement with the extreme left New Party.

Continue reading The Maddening Media

It’s no secret that many anti-establishment Tea-Party and/or libertarian conservatives don’t like Mitt Romney. Still, many are so fed up with Obama that they seem to be searching for reasons to justify voting for Romney anyway.

One oft-cited reason has to do with the Supreme Court, whose justices tend to be reliably “conservative” or “liberal.” Since they serve for life, it’s a pretty big deal when a President gets to appoint one, and he generally tries to appoint someone who fits his ideology (assuming he can get the current Congress to approve the person). I’ve seen conservatives who don’t like Romney say they plan to vote for him at least so he can appoint conservative judges.

Continue reading Voting For Conservative Judges

So the Supreme Court ruled that the Obamacare mandate was not constitutional as a mandate, but it was constitutional as a tax. I find this very disappointing and also ironic, but I am surprised to see so many conservatives claiming this makes Obamacare the largest tax increase in American history.

Continue reading How is Obamacare the “largest tax increase in American history”?