Intel Being Sued

The world's largest computer chip company, Intel, is being sued by the US Federal Trade Commission for illegally attempting to thwart the success of other computer chip companies. Prosecutors say that Intel made "illegal threats" to other companies in order to maintain market superiority. This is not the first suit of this kind being made against the company, they have had at least three previous investigations in the recent past, but all have been settled or dropped. Intel's main targets are Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM.

I think it is vital that we maintain a fair market system in this country because we are looked to as an example for other nations trying to promoter economic freedom. I am glad that an actual federal organization is looking into this case because I think it will be more successful because Intel can't simply ignore their inquiries. I also think this is a reflection of the state of our economic climate in this country however. It is startling to me to realize that even the most powerful computer chip company in the world is too greedy to actually follow the rules, even though doing such would not hinder their profits. If American companies are permitted to continue along in this extraordinarily greedy manner, I don't believe that there is any hope of securing a truly free market system.

Links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8416627.stm

http://www.intel.com/#/en_US_01

Loggers playing nice?

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has announced that he will be introducing a bill that would ensure protection of old-growth forests that is backed by timber companies and environmentalists as well. This union came as a surprise to many who had heard of the 8 month long argument over how this would affect both sides. The bill states that old-growth trees on federal land in eastern Oregon will be off limits to logging companies - any tree with a diameter greater than 21 inches can not be cut down. The loggers will however have more access to young trees in the area. This rule is already being practiced in many locations, but this bill will make it an official law.

I am surprised that the timer companies or the environmentalists agreed on this bill. However, I do think it will be very beneficial to our forests. We need to protect our forests, especially our old-growth ones that have proved to be healthy and stable enough to last this long. I do wonder about the part that states that loggers can cut down new trees though. I feel like eventually the old trees will die and there will be no younger ones to take their place. If this happens we will lose even more of the forest than we would've in the first place - basically, we'll have to start all over and plant thousands of young trees all at once and prohibit logging in the area. I also just wanted to talk about this bill because I thought it was ironic that it is coming out the same time as we did that controversial logging bill in our mock congress.

Links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/science/earth/17timber.html?_r=1&ref=politics

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/07/293126.shtml

Religion and politics, together?

The New York Times reported that Washington University in St. Louis will be opening a new academic center for the study of the intersection between religion and politics called the John C. Danforth Center. The former senator states that he does not want to cause controversial debate at the center, but rather wants to promote the understanding of how the two ideas of religion and politics can work together.

I think my problem with this center is that I don't understand what they are going to be teaching. What issues with religion can be resolved in order to better suit politics. I certainly hope they are not suggesting any type of change in the separation of church and state. Plus, I don't see where the problem is since many of the members of Congress and the government are very religious. Where is the problem between the coexisting? I just don't see it. To me this center just sounds like a way for the former priest to promote a greater influence of re

ligion in American politics which I definitely do not support - it's un-American. Regardless, I think that the university could make much better use of funding than opening a highly questionable, limited scope program.

John C. Danforth

Links:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/new-center-on-religion-and-politics-to-be-named-for-former-mo-senator/

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=d000030

A Dose of Regret, for publishing this article.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel's front page story Sunday was about a 9-year-old boy, Dylan Bocanegra, who developed Bell's Palsy supposedly from receiving the H1N1 vaccine. The boys mother was interviewed and stated that she would never again attempt to get her children vaccinated against the flu virus. The story painted the disease as horrifying and the mother was seemingly distraught at her child's "possibly severe" reaction.

This story was ridiculous and did an immense disservice to the public. Not only is Bell's Palsy an extremely rare reaction to flu vaccines and it is almost always temporary and will leave no permanent damage, but they are not even sure if the vaccine was the cause of the disease. The disease is a viral infection of the facial nerve, when the infection grows, it presses down on the facial nerve causing it too decrease in function (hence the crooked smile of the 9-year-old boy). The article was seemingly aimed at deterring people from getting the H1N1 vaccine, when in fact it is more likely to develop Bell's Palsy from getting the flu than it is from getting the vaccine.

This brings up the issue of the press' role in society. I'm all for freedom of the press, let them print whatever they want. But it is also my opinion that being an authority of trust they should approach issues with caution. The public looks to the media for guidance and support and they should not abuse this trust by publishing sensationalist stories even if they may be hurting the greater society. How many more people do you think will get sick from H1N1 this year, simply because they were too scared of a ridiculous possibility to get vaccinated?

Link:

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/12/11/121209_1A_H1N1_reaction.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=7

http://www.bellspalsy.ws/

Man, that's a huge tax!

The House recently approved a permanent tax of up to 45% on estates worth 3.5 million or more. The vote was passed 225 to 200, with all Democrats on the approval side. The House claims that that the tax will affect less than 1% of estates in the United States. Analysts say that the bill will probably be heavily revised in the Senate before going to a vote.

I was quite shocked that the government can tax that much on someone's personal fortune. Granted I'm sure the money goes to helpful programs that support the less fortunate, it seems wrong to cheat someone out of nearly half of their money. However, conversely, where else is the government to get money for necessary programs? I suppose aside from Congressional organ donating sessions, taxing the rich is the way to go.

Links:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/house-okays-permanent-extension-of-estate-tax/

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B258Q20091204?type=politicsNews

New forces to be sent to the Middle East

On Wednesday, Obama approved a surge of an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. A large portion of these troops, roughly 10,000 troops will be sent to the southern region of Helmand which is believed to be the financial and spiritual headquarters for the Taliban. This surge doubles the number of troops currently in that area - which has proven to be the deadliest area for American troops. Unfortunately, the rather large area (the size of West Virginia) is composed of dry, dusty desert that reaches temperatures of 130 degrees F in the summer.

I support the surge, but only if it is the last one. We can not have another Vietnam situation in which we continue to replace dieing troops with new ones. I feel that we can not just leave Afghanistan and abandon the people, but I do think that we need to be more careful with our troops there. We need to target certain things rather than attempt random attacks at members of the Taliban. I hope that these 30,000 troops will be enough for us to finally produce some progress in the region and not be a gateway to many future, unsuccessful surges.

Links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/world/asia/03deployment.html?_r=1&ref=politics

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_surge_in_afghanistan_hardly_a_surprise_20091203/