Free Republic

Opponents speak out against tuition vouchers Thursday, January 20, 2011 By Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteHARRISBURG -- In his inaugural speech, Gov. Tom Corbett barely hinted at what is sure to become one of the most hotly debated issues of the spring -- "school choice," also known as "tuition vouchers." It would be a major change in how the state funds education. "Our students compete not only with those from the other 49 states, but with students from around the world," the new chief executive said Tuesday. "So we must embrace innovation, competition and choice in our education system." The measure,...

The Society of Pius X identifies the measures of Education Minister Klaus Kessler (Grüne) as "politically ideological" and will challenge them legally. Saarbrücken (kath.net) The Education Ministry of Saarland has concluded that with the end of the current half of the school year, two Saarland schools, which are operated by the Society of Pius X, must conclude their operation. It falls upon the grade school in St. Arnual in Fechingen, according to SR-Online. The back ground for this is, according to Education Minister Kessler (Grüne), the long conflct related to the dormitory of the Heart of Jesus Realschule, which the...

So I'm playing Monopoly with the kids. It's a set we ended up with a few months ago. Christmas Fund Matures' is now 'Holiday Fund Matures.' 'School Tax' is now a 'School Fee of $50 instead of $150. And you now get $25 for 'Consultancy Fee' instead of 'Receive for Services'. Oh, and Luxury Tax has been jacked up to $100.

Liberal consumer groups are aghast to learn that the Obama health team are really monopolists at heart, bent on handing hospitals a cartel in their local markets. Sunday's New York Times report on this horror confirms what I wrote about in these pages weeks ago ("Killing Marcus Welby," PostOpinion, Oct. 18). I warned that the creation of "accountable care organizations," which put hospitals in control of all the doctors in their outlying areas, would lead to concentrated power over the provision of medical care -- turning physicians into salaried employees and reducing consumer choices ACOs were invented as a way...

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill that would give the Attorney General the right to shut down websites with a court order if copyright infringement is deemed “central to the activity” of the site — regardless if the website has actually committed a crime. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) is among the most draconian laws ever considered to combat digital piracy, and contains what some have called the “nuclear option,” which would essentially allow the Attorney General to turn suspected websites “off.” COICA is the latest effort by Hollywood, the recording industry and...

AMITY SHLAES is a syndicated columnist for Bloomberg and a senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a graduate of Yale University and pursued postgraduate studies at the Free University in Berlin. She has served as a member of the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal and as a columnist for the Financial Times. In 2009 she was winner of the Hayek Prize, a book prize from the Thomas Smith Foundation of the Manhattan Institute. In 2003 she was the J.P. Morgan Fellow in Finance and Economics at the American Academy in Berlin....

...ticket sales for the top 100 touring bands are down 12% this year, Live Nation Entertainment's major executives went on the defensive Thursday, blaming the press for "scaring" artists from touring and arguing that acts need to alter their pricing strategies. ..."The press," (CEO Michael) Rapino said, has "scared about every artist" out of touring in the fourth quarter. A number of major tours have struggled in 2010, including the refurbished Lilith Tour, and once-can't-miss artists such as the Jonas Brothers have been canceling dates... Yet the company's top brass did more than point fingers at the media, and promised...

This could be one of the biggest bombs Live Nation Entertainment ever produced. Minutes after the concert promoter and ticket company told analysts at its first investor day that ticket sales for its biggest acts fell 9 percent in the first half of the year and were likely to see a steeper decline during the rest of 2010, its shares plunged -- tumbling throughout the afternoon until they lost about 18 percent of their value. The bad news rocketed from the stage of Manhattan's Irving Plaza concert hall near Union Square, where the meeting was held, to Wall Street and...

Last week, Sen. Byron Dorgan spoke to a room full of Internet regulation supporters at the Free Press Summit and said that the free-market community's argument that Net Neutrality is a government takeover is a lie. He also felt compelled to say that ATR and others were spreading falsehoods by calling it such. I shot back today with a piece in the Daily Caller explaining why I believe Net Neutrality is certainly a government takeover. From the op-ed: Sen. Dorgan dismissed the argument by the free-market community that this is a government takeover, claiming “nothing could be further from the...

Check this out - who knew about the utilization of monopoly? I wonder what one of these versions would bring at auction today! This is a very interesting little tidbit I've never heard about before concerning WWII. Read and enjoy just one more example of American/British ingenuity. Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British Airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape... Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not...

Jacksonville-based rail carrier CSX Transportation has poured millions into lobbying against a bill that would end railroad industry antitrust exemptions, and another - seen as a watered-down compromise - that would bolster the federal agency that regulates the industry. The fight against tougher regulations comes at a time when Tampa-based Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc. is challenging what it calls an unfair increase in CSX freight rates affecting shipments of coal to its Palatka generating station. The rate increases upped the companies' costs by $80 million in 2009, a Seminole spokesman said. Overall, the company had $1.2 billion in operating expenses...

Prison industries maintain monopoly even in tough times By Jim Sanders Published: Tuesday, Apr. 13, 2010 - 12:00 am California prisoners, unlike law-abiding citizens, have a guaranteed market for the products they make behind bars: State agencies are required by law to buy them even if private workers can make them cheaper or better. That monopoly is coming under fire as the state's shaky economy sparks widespread layoffs. The sale of prison goods and services has grown into a $234 million annual industry. Many small-business owners say they can beat the Prison Industry Authority, potentially saving millions, and that taxpayers...

WICHITA, Kan., March 9 (UPI) -- Kansas authorities said an injured man pulled over during a traffic stop told officers he was beaten for using Monopoly money to purchase drugs. The Wichita Police Department said the 33-year-old man, whose name was not released, was bleeding from the head when he was pulled over Thursday and told officers he had recently used Monopoly money to purchase several hundred dollars worth of crack cocaine, KSDK-TV, St. Louis, Mo., reported Tuesday. "The man from whom he had bought the drugs was upset and invited him over to his house and upon arrival struck...

(Summary: Parents need help defending their children against the ideology and incompetence so common in public schools. But US newspapers hardly bother to explain education to their readers. When kids aren't learning, you can bet there is a scandal to investigate. Where's investigative journalism when we need it?) The big question: "When are you people going to start covering education?" My local newspaper hardly seems aware that there is this very exciting, controversial and dramatic topic crying out for smart, helpful coverage. I bet it''s the same way in most American cities. How about yours?? Every education story in my...

For its 75th anniversary, Monopoly's getting a massive update, pitting brazen and new against proven and old: Circular board or quadrilateral? Cash currency or fake credit cards? This is the stuff of ruined relationships. In the monopoly wars, I'm imagining there will be two camps, not four. there will be people who are OK with the circular board and the switch to digital currency, and people who are fine with neither—the purists and the pragmatists. There will be a middle ground in this fight, but it will be drenched in blood. I think I might be one of the purists....

...The merger, which was the first major review for Obama administration antitrust regulators, will create a goliath with hands in every pocket of the music business. The newly formed Live Nation Entertainment would have the ability to book concerts, sell tickets and merchandise, and manage artists all under one roof... Under the agreement, Ticketmaster will give Anschutz Entertainment Group access to its technology so that AEG -- which owns and manages nearly 100 venues including Staples Center -- can create its own ticketing service... Ticketmaster would also be required to divest a subsidiary that provides software for venue operators to...

In a fight as fierce as any seen in the Super Bowl, lawyers on Wednesday tussled with Supreme Court justices in a case examining the fundamental operations of the 32-team National Football League. The NFL asserts that as a legal joint venture it operates as a single entity in making key decisions that impact all of its member teams. But a lawyer representing a small apparel company that sued the league for supposedly violating the Sherman Antitrust Act argued the teams are independent actors free to enter into business contracts as they see fit. Labor unions, including the one representing...

This year will host numerous events that could well change the course of the music industry. From the future of music giant EMI to the impact of the Performance Rights Act, many events that will occur in 2010 could have deep, long-term consequences. In no particular order, they are: 1. The Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger If the Department of Justice gives the merger a greenlight it would instantly create less competition in ticketing in the near term as Live Nation’s fledgling ticketing division ceases to be a competitor to Ticketmaster. In the long term, a combined Ticketmaster-Live Nation will be able...

Why does it seem that American society is in decline, that fairness and decorum are receding, that that socialism and tyranny are becoming malignant despite the majority of the public being averse to such philosophies, yet the true root cause seems elusive? What if everything from unsustainable health care and social security costs, to stagnant home prices and wage stagnation, to crumbling infrastructure and metastasizing socialism, to the utter decimation of major US cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, could all be traced to a common origin that is extremely pervasive yet is all but absent from the national dialog,...