Free Republic

Funny 2001 TV spot of Ebola researchers who stayed at Holiday In Express...

Years ago, I shared a very funny poster that suggests that more government is hardly ever the right answer to any question.Yet in Washington, the standard response to any screwup by government is to make government even bigger. Sort ofMitchellÂ’s Law on steroids.And thatÂ’s exactly whatÂ’s happening with the Ebola crisis. The bureaucracies that have received tens of billions of dollars over the years to preclude a crisis are now expecting to get rewarded with more cash.Governor Jindal of Louisiana debunks the notion that more money for the bureaucracy is some sort of elixir. HereÂ’s some of what he wrote...

* Two Walmart stores have locked away bullets as violent clashes escalate. * First time bosses have done this since pulling guns after Sandy Hook. * Protests in Ferguson over Michael Brown's shooting show no sign of ending. * 43 people were arrested in and around the Walmart stores on Monday. * Renewed outrage expected today over leaked report of the officer's account. Ammunition has been pulled from the shelves of two Walmarts in Ferguson amid violent clashes over the police shooting of Michael Brown. Employees were ordered to lock all bullets in a store cupboard on Monday after demonstrators...

For the past several years the financial sector, notably the banks, would enhance their earnings by making the determination that reserves needed to be less. After all, the Great American Recovery was underway and there would no longer be home foreclosures, car repos or credit card delinquencies. Therefore, on a quarterly basis, a reduction in reserves was in order. That shift from reserves to the balance sheet allowed earnings to accelerate, earnings per share to explode and share prices and bonuses to elevate. However, all good things come to an end eventually. Therefore, a new game had to be found...

In response to Obama's Lame Response to Ebola; No Protocols but Lots of Fearmongering one person responded that I was "over-cooking the Ebola crisis". Amusingly, another reader accused me of "underplaying the crisis". A third reader asked "what is the free market response?" A similar question arose in a comment to Acting Man's post The Ebola Outbreak – A Black Swan. Before tackling the free market issue, let's first review the government's response to date. Airport restrictions but only at 5 airport, not all of themTemperature taking procedures initiatedIn spite temperature worries, a nurse self-reported to the center for disease...

Both the perk and the process can deceive and exploit those it intends to help. It’s not very romantic, but the idea of egg freezing – preserving one’s eggs for later reproductive use – has a sort of practical appeal. Take my case. My husband and I met when I was 29 years old and, when we married three years later, we spent the better part of my 30s struggling with infertility. So, when the concept surfaces in the news, as it did recently with reports that Facebook and Apple will offer a benefit to cover the costs of their...

After being stuck in the same range all year, Florida's unemployment rate finally broke through in September to fall to a fresh, multiyear, post-recession low. At 6.1 percent, Florida's jobless rate is now at its lowest point since June 2008.... Florida added 13,400 jobs over the month with trade, transportation and utilities, a broad category that includes retail jobs, leading the way.... In a news release, Gov. Rick Scott emphasized the addition of 12,800 private-sector jobs last month... "Together since December 2010, Florida job creators have created 651,300 private-sector jobs," Scott said in a statement. "Our policies are working in...

What's the greatest threat to the market and the economy? Change in Fed policyDeflation/slowing global economyOverleveraged (see chart)ISIS/TerrorismEbolaCrisis of ConfidenceSlowing US economy For all the scuttlebutt about the Fed initiating another round of extraordinary accommodation, the only change is that the first interest rate-hike will move to December of next year from September 2015. In fact, some members would like to see action sooner rather than later. Moreover, it was leaked earlier this week that Janet Yellen sees the economy improving nicely. Yesterday, Charles Plosser, head of the Philadelphia Fed, echoed that same notion with several comments about the economy...

The Michigan Legislature has put a bill on Governor Rick Snyder’s desk that would, essentially, kick Tesla Motors Inc. out of the state. The home of Government General Motors, it seems, is still home to big-government coercion and cronyism. The bill, which is awaiting the Gov’s signature, would ban direct sales from a car company (Tesla) to individual consumers. (Coincidentally, this just happens to be Tesla’s business model.) The legislation was put forward because… well, I guess that buying things directly from producers and manufacturers is bad for you, or something.The National Automobile Dealers Association must have been less than...

Marillyn A. Hewson Lockheed Martin 6801 Rockledge Drive Bethesda, MD 20817-1877 Dear Ms. Hewson: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar. Lockheed Martin, a major American military contractor, has been one of the largest suppliers of sophisticated weapons systems to the terrorist-sponsor State of Qatar for several years. For the better part of 2014, one of Qatar’s creations – the genocidal Islamic State (aka ISIS/ISIL) - has been on the warpath in Syria and Iraq. The media reports...

Italy learnt it was no longer in a recession on Wednesday thanks to a change in data calculations across the European Union which includes illegal economic activities such as prostitution and drugs in the GDP measure. Adding illegal revenue from hookers, narcotics and black market cigarettes and alcohol to the eurozone's third-biggest economy boosted gross domestic product figures. GDP rose slightly from a 0.1 percent decline for the first quarter to a flat reading, the national institute of statistics said. Although ISTAT confirmed a 0.2 percent decline for the second quarter, the revision of the first quarter data meant Italy...

Air France flight attendant unions on Friday called for a halt to services to the Guinean capital Conakry due to concerns about a "serious risk" of spreading Ebola. The daily Air France Paris-Conakry flight "carries a serious risk of spreading the epidemic, particularly in our country," read a statement from the two unions of flight crew and commercial staff. They called for a closure of the route until the epidemic is under control. They also slammed what they called totally inappropriate protection from Air France -- which provided them with "a simple pair of gloves" -- and called for more...

The implementation of the "Minimum Guaranteed Income" (MGI) measure is the most important social reform, Labour Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said on Tuesday during the MGI presentation attended by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Government Vice-President and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos. According to AMNA, the crisis has revealed in the most obvious way the distortions, the gaps and the contradictions of the social protection system in Greece, Vroutsis noted, adding that the system was inefficient and incomplete both socially and economically. The MGI comes to give an answer to all these issues, he added. The implementation of the measure will start...

It’s long past time to end the Fed as it is currently constructed. And it was only a matter of time before an Obama appointee put an exclamation on the point. It’s what Obama appointees are best at. Yellen stepped out of her role as Master of the Stock Market to expound on taxation and public education.Yellen points out that poor school districts sometimes aren’t funded as well as rich one are because the United States relies on local control of education. It’s what she calls “subnational taxation.” Her implied proposal is that it would be much better if the...

Targets for renewables are unattainable, futile – and will cost us trillions of pounds. Some time in this century, we reached a state of clever-silly unanimity over green policies, especially carbon emission controls and renewables targets. All parties (except five brave Tories voting against) voted for the second reading of the Climate Change Act in 2008. So, for some years, we humoured the climate-change lobby, and nodded our heads gravely when experts told us we must help save the planet. But most of us behaved like churchgoers listening to boring sermons. We accepted what we were told, on the unspoken...

A Denver-based Frontier Airlines employee blames the company for panicking after an Ebola sickened passenger traveled on one of its airplanes. Now, the employee, speaking anonymously, says the airline is putting employees at risk. “Frontier hasn`t done enough to train cleaners to get us the proper cleaning solution to clean the plane,”... “I think I should be able to wear a mask to protect myself,” the employee said. ... “They`re telling us now we can`t wear the mask,” the employee said. “Management said because the passengers would be freaked out by it.”

90 Percent of Checkout Food Options Unhealthy; 60 Percent of Drink Options Sugar-Sweetened A study of checkout aisles at a wide variety of supermarket and non-food retailers found that 90 percent of food options for sale were for candy, energy bars, chips, cookies, and other junk foods, and 60 percent of the beverage options were for soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. Researchers at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public characterized only eight percent of food items as "healthier," and just two percent of foods as actually "healthy," such as nuts and fruit. Their assessment of drinks for sale...

Maryland's top transportation officials visited Washington County Thursday to discuss area road projects, including the construction of a new bridge on busy Interstate 81 over the Potomac River. The tour is an annual ritual, in which state transportation officials meet with local officials and state lawmakers to discuss the Maryland Department of Transportation's six-year capital budget. Among state officials attending the discussion at the Hagerstown library was Wilson Parran, deputy secretary of the transportation department, and Melinda Peters, who heads the Maryland State Highway Administration. Peters said that construction of the $43 million I-81 bridge will begin in the fall...

Steep stock market corrections often create shrouds of pessimism that do bad things to people’s brainpower. And one of the absolutely stupidest things I have heard in recent weeks is that the recent drop in oil prices is bad. You heard me right. Serious people on financial television are saying lower oil prices are a signal of worldwide economic collapse. Here at home that translates to recession, deflation, a profits collapse and rising unemployment. I’ve been around for a while, and I’ve seldom heard such gibberish. The latest stock market scare stems from a bunch of fears — such as...

There is no mistaking you are at the right place: A large sign in the window of HealthKick Nutrition Center, 10174 Maysville Road, lets you know "We Have Ebola Suits." Step in and on a table just inside the door is a stack of boxes with white Tyvek suits, sizes small, medium, large and extra large. David Morris, owner of the store, said he had already sold 35 of the suits by noon Thursday. A tall blond enters the store, and Morris helps her determine her size. She buys two suits. One for her and one for her husband. The...