the archives of f/k/a . . .

The American Antitrust Institute is again calling for a breakup of the big-media joint venture that puts

all exit polling eggs in one basket.  Renamed Voter News Service Risks Another Failure (Oct. 29, 2004)

 

 ”[O]n two previous occasions all the major media combined their exit polling operations

into one organization that had spectacular failures. Now they are doing it again, except that they have re-

named their joint operation the “National Election Pool.” The American Antitrust Institute reiterates

its call for competition in the exit polling market, and again urges the antirust enforcers to investigate

whether the cooperating media organizations are violating the antitrust laws.”

(See our post-election update.)

 

sitting on her eggs
the chicken admires
the peony

 

the chicken stares
at the man…
a long day

 

 

 Issa, translated by David G.                                                                                                                 

 

• postscript (8 P.M.)  Have you noticed that the Fool has not made it to his Forest much lately?  It seems that “Real Life” has been keeping George Wallace from his fun/artsy Fool weblog, and from the insurance-oriented Declarations & Exclusions.  Despite having clients to serve, George managed to find time to be interviewed by Insurance Journal, [Blogging the Insurance Law, Oct. 26, 2004] and the audio of the interview can be found here.   George blows his own horn, here.
  
  
  
  • 
    
    George “tells IJ why he started the blog, who reads it, and why his may just be the beginning of a trend in online insurance communication.”   It’s an interesting conversation with a dulcet-toned, sagacious “fool.”  One complaint:  George keeps saying “blogs”, despite having eschewed the term for aesthetic purposes in cyberspace.  He also calls Walter Olson a lawyer, but probably won’t have to fear a defamation suit from the litigatiphobic Olson.

   morning-glories–
   coming down
   with a cold and fever

 

  In a working paper released today by the American Antitrust Institute, Emeritus Professor and AAI Senior Fellow F.M. Scherer examines various reasons advanced for the current shortage of flu vaccine in the U.S., and finds that multiple sourcing with excess capacity built-in would yield more benefits than it costs. An Industrial Organization Perspective on the Influenza Vaccine Shortage  (F. M. Scherer, AAI Working Paper 04-03, October 29, 2004)

• 
  
  AAI President Albert Foer discusses policy considerations that appear to flow from Dr. Scherer’s paper in a press release accompanying the Vaccine Shortage AAI Working Paper.
  
  
• 
  
  Overlawyered recently looked at trial lawyers and the flu vaccine shortage, while Prof. Bainbridge and Kevin Drum focused on regulation as the problem.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To avoid a lawyerly aftertaste from handing out candy on Sunday, you better check the Halloween Candy Liability Waiver provided by the Center for Consumer Freedom  – Prof. Grace spotlights it today at his place.

 

•   In other antitrust news, the AntitrustProf Blog started posting on October, 18, 2004.  The editor, Shubha Ghosh, is an IP/antitrust specialist at the Buffalo Law School.  (via Point of Law). 

  My old standby Master Issa had no antitrust haiku for this post, but he did know a little

something about illness and cures:

 

 

the silkworm doctor
has so many patients…
little girl

 

 

first autumn morning–
a fever-curing
kind of sky

                                                                                                                

all haiku by Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue 

Forget law or politics, and even Halloween plans.  Let’s spend a few quiet minutes

with the haiku of literary giant Richard Wright [author of Native Son and Black Boy] 

 

 

        I am nobody:

A red sinking autumn sun

         Took my name away

                               

 

 

     This still afternoon

Is full of autumn sunlight

     And spring memories.

 

 

 

     If pumpkins could talk,

I am sure they would be

        Reactionary!

 

 

 

 

     A skinny scarecrow

And its skinnier shadow

      Fleeing a cold moon.

 

 

 

  from Haiku: This Other World  (a collection of over 800 haiku,

published in 1998, almost 40 years after the author’s death).  A great haiku introduction or gift.

 

• Before being distracted by Richard Wright, I had planned to feature
  
  scarecrow haiku today.  You can find some of my favorite Issa’s scarecrow
  
  
  poems at his Tea Party in the Sidebar.

  Find scarecrow haiku by many poets in The Scare Crow: A Collection of Haiku

& Senryu (Leroy Kanterman, Ed., Hiroake Sato, translator, Red Moon Press, 1999)

 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan: 

candy for goblins

brought home too soon –

last-minute trip to buy more

 

                                       [Oct. 28, 2004]

  one-breath pundit  

  Whether they think they’re sending me a trick or a treat, I grow increasingly

weary with folk (many of them beloved friends and relatives) who hit the Forward icon to

send me email that spreads (1) fantastic rumors about the supposed sins of others —

usually with a political motivation, (2) health scares, (3) boycott schemes, or (4) sappy pop-

psychology and feel-good pap (often allegedly written by terror victims or celebrities).

• 
  
  yesterday, it was misleading accusations about Starbucks maltreatment of American soldiers
  
  
  in Iraq — read the details at snopes.com. [for more on this story see Caliban and TaxLaw Prof]
  
  
• 
  
  
  

  recently it was silly “facts” about Theresa Heinz Kerry’s ownership of foreign

  
  

  factories and outsourcing (actually the family trust owns but 4% of the Heinz Company)

Click here to read my plea last May to stop sending me such cyber b.s. (basically, anything that

says “send this to all your friends”).  Today, I want to repeat that it is simply too easy to check

out such rumors — I go first to purporal.com – for responsble people to Forward them without

attempting to verify them.  (See Virtual Chase on internet hoaxes.)

 

 

a nuisance–
even mountain cherry blossom
rumors fly

 

 

from Issa, translated by D.G. Lanoue 

 

 

• 
  
  p.s.  In the spirit of avoiding rumor-mongering, I will not speculate on the reasons for the settlement today of Bill O’Reilly’s sexual harassment lawsuit — nor even link to it.  (But, don’t you just hate it when settlement papers are kept secret?)