Free Republic

In the past decade, millions have come to depend on the seeming magic of the global positioning system (GPS) to guide them to their destination. The navigational gadgets in cars, cell phones and other hand-held devices can even be a lifesaver. Now the system may be undermined by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision last month to allow a well-connected company to exploit a slice of the airwaves in a way that potentially blocks GPS signals. The FCC bent the rules so the Reston-based firm LightSquared could offer a new wireless Internet service that fulfills President Obama‘s high-profile push for...

It is the supreme irony that an outbreak of unusually cold weather has exposed the accelerating erosion of an already over-regulated industry about to be further hobbled by restrictions ostensibly imposed to combat global warming. It is doubly ironic that this should have occurred in a state whose name is more or less synonymous with energy production. Texas, which produces and consumes more electricity than any other state, experienced power shortages last week sufficient to warrant rolling blackouts and an undertaking (subsequently reneged upon) to import power from Mexico. In fairness to operators such as the Electric Reliability Council of...