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Hey guys

Going to graduate in August with a double major in International Affairs and Economics. Anyway, as part of the criteria for graduating with the Economics degree, I have to do a research paper. The topic I've chose is Monopolies.

What I could use some help on is finding some good examples where the free market effectively swept away Monopolies. One I'm using is Blockbuster and how they basically controlled the video rental market, and the Netflix and Redbox came in and now Blockbuster is teetering on bankruptcy.

Another I'm using is GameStop. Even though they've bought out practically ever used game chain, big box stores are getting in on the used games business, not to mention Craigslist, Amazon, and other websites.

This section is probably going to be around 15 pages, not including any graphs or other visual aids, so some other examples would be nice.

Thanks

I have a question for everyone here. Not sure how many of you follow sports alot, but the NFL has been going through a period of "Stadium Mania" lately. This year the Cowboys opened a $1 billion dollar palace and next year NYC will do the same. Soon another stadium will be built in LA, not to mention more "modest" stadiums in Indianapolis, Phoenix, Houston, and other places. The common thread is that tax payer money is used to finance a good chunk of their construction.

I was wondering what your opinions were on tax payer funded stadiums. On the negative side, it's hundreds of millions that could've gone to schools, roads, police, etc. However, a modern stadium can be used to lure concerts, festivals, and other events to make the city even more money.

I would just like to bring this to everyone's attention. I work for the US Census Bureau and just received a promotion. My training is going to be in Orlando during the 2nd week of January. Not too much out of the ordinary for any business. However, I just got done checking my reservation, the package I (and presumably everyone else associated with the training) have booked is for a single, two room suite in a 4 star hotel. Each room include a 42 inch plasma tv along with all of the other amenities expected of a 4 star hotel. Not to mention it include complimentary top shelf drinks every night from 6-8 pm at the hotel's on site bar.

Not that I'm complaining on a personal level, but on a political level, when I see our government tossing around Trillions of dollars like it was candy, I just can't help but shake my head.

Ok, so a friend of mine sent this as a "Peer reviewed" paper on vaccines. Yeah, I know. Either way, some help with their claims, and background on the papers they site would be helpful.

http://www.vaccines.net/autoimmu.htm

I searched vaccine so I believe there isn't a topic on this yet. I got into it with one of the other editors of my blog last night because he sent some stuff to a member who just had a newborn saying vaccines cause long term neurological damage, autism, etc. I know the autism stuff is BS, however, this is the first time I've heard about "Long term neurological damage." Did I miss the memo on that or is this just goal post shifting?

I put the over/under at 6 months before it's either cancelled due to low ratings or he drinks the Kool-Aid and becomes another fear mongering mouth piece.

WTF

Quick FYI, I'm a very casual smoker. I smoke maybe 3-4 packs a year max and occasionally go to a local hookah lounge. I find out today that as of September 22nd, all flavored cigarettes (minus menthol of course) are going to be banned in the United States. This includes Djarum clove cigarettes. Of course it is to "save" the children, nvm that even the study the government used to support the ban said that teens are 25x more likely to buy a pack of Marlboro Menthols than clove cigarettes. First the government makes me pay twice as much for my cigs, and now I can't even get them in the United States. This doesn't reak of corporatism at all.

So a hobby of mine is going to various zoos and seeing exhibits/animals. I occasionally go to a message board on the subject and recently the subject of zoos in the current economic climate came up. The zoo industry as a whole has benefited from the economy thanks to people going to local attractions rather than going to Disney. The topic shifted to how zoos would act in a "Capitalist free market." My response was

I think zoos would operate much as they do now. Like it or not, zoos are in the entertainment industry and have to compete for dollars just as everyone else. Many major zoos these days are either completely off tax payer support or it makes up a small part of annual revenue. Quite a few conservation initiatives work well with capitalism. Captive breeding programs are one example. You said something like a SSP (Species Survival Plan: Zoos pool their animals together into one coordinated population) wouldn't happen because each zoo would compete against each other. Yet a SSP would be welcomed in a free market. Now every zoo benefits from having a healthy breeding population of endangered species that brings people into the zoo AND serve to represent their wild cousins. In addition, opening new exhibits (the life blood of any zoo) happens far easier under private ownership. Jacksonville broke ground on Range of the Jaguar in 2002 and opened it in March 2004 (Private zoo, one of the best exhibits in North America), their counterparts in Tampa have been trying to simply renovate their existing Asian exhibits since 2000.

What do you guys think?

I was contacted today from "Americans in Contact" about my views on the President's health care plan. I expected to be asked some bogus questions like if I agreed with the idea of a "Death Panel" but it somehow was even more bogus. All I was asked were my positions on gay marriage, flag burning, and whether or not I supported his overall plan. What the hell?

I've been involved with this for awhile, and I think this topic deserves it's own bogosity. This post isn't endorsing drinking and driving.

First off, to say MADD isn't a neo-prohibitionist organization is laughable. At one point, they tried to pass a law in my home state to have EVERY keg registered in a database and if your keg was found at a party with underage kids, you may be charged with a felony.

As for DUI laws themselves, it's ridiculous. At best, 60% of people can perform a field sobriety test WHEN SOBER. In addition, it's legally acceptable in my home state to have breathe tests that can be as much as .02 off. Just think about that then. A normal sized woman could have 2 beers at a bar and runs the risk of getting a DUI because of the machine.

And being 21 to drink, well, do I need to explain that?

There has been alot going around about the Census Bureau's recent address canvassing operations. This has been centered on the fact that Census Bureau employees took a GPS map spot on each home they canvassed. Alex Jones and his ilk have taken this as another sign that the NWO is coming. The video he did about this was sadly taken off when his channel got suspended. Working for the Census, the map spot serves two reasons. One, it shows someone was actually there to do the house, and two, it gives the Bureau a concrete number for places that have been traditionally been underrepresented like rural and poor urban areas.

Not sure if people are familiar with this. It's a program run by the college board to allow high school students to earn college credit. It's a great program if the class is taught by a good teacher and actually taught to the standards. However, a lot of schools now just use it as a buzz word to make themselves look better on paper. My district recently made it mandatory that AP US History would be the US History class taught. Of course everyone promised it would make our schools better, and what did we get? A 9% pass rate, 0% if you factor out the two academic magnet high schools.