Monthly Archives: August 2011

Is the Libyan War Over? Not By a Long Shot

Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Al Jazeera reported today that Libyan opposition fighters just seized Tripoli’s Green Square and are celebrating a military victory over Qaddafi’s regime. Now that rebel forces appear to have defeated Qaddafi’s loyalists, the next hurdle will be avoiding further bloodshed amongst themselves.

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Posted in Defense, Energy Security, International Security, Middle East, Policy, Politics, Terrorism, War | Tagged Abdel Fatah Younis, al Qaeda, Libya, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, Muammar Qaddafi, Tripoli | 2 Comments

Are Conservatives More Patriotic Than Liberals?

Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

In May of 2011, Gallup published poll results on active duty military personnel / veteran, and non-veteran approval of President Obama’s job performance. Not surprisingly, the job approval rating for President Obama was lower across all age groups for active military / veterans … Continue reading →

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Posted in Defense, International Security, Policy, Politics, War | Tagged Active military, Democrats, Gallup, Patriotism, President Obama, Republicans, Veterans | 25 Comments

Strife in the Sinai: Is Egypt’s and Israel’s Peace at an End?

Posted on Saturday, August 20, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

“The Egyptians do not accept what has happened, and it means that Israel should take care. If they continue their behavior toward the Palestinians and the peace process, it means that the situation will escalate more.” — Mohamed Bassiouni, a … Continue reading →

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Posted in Defense, Energy Security, International Security, Media, Middle East, Peak Oil, Policy, Politics, War | Tagged Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Hosni Mubarak, Israel, The New York Times | 11 Comments

Bush vs. Obama: Failed Banks

Posted on Friday, August 19, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Yesterday, I compared the number of bankruptcy filings under the Bush and Obama administrations. Because of a significant change in bankruptcy law in 2005, I concluded that it would be very difficult to do an adequate apples-to-apples comparison. Today, I decided to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Policy, Politics, Taxes | Tagged Bush vs. Obama, Failed banks, FDIC, President George W. Bush, President Obama | 4 Comments

Bush vs. Obama: Bankruptcies

Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Since comparisons between Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama appear to be very popular these days, I have added another chart to the mix. I was curious if there were any major differences between the number of bankruptcy filings … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Policy, Politics, Taxes | Tagged Bankruptcies, Bush vs. Obama, President George W. Bush, President Obama, United States Courts | 2 Comments

Another Strike from Unionized Employees in a Declining Industry

Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

“You can deal with the name calling, you can deal with the picket lines, but it’s crazy when they’re an inch from your face screaming that they’re going to kill you and your family.” —Verizon manager, who refused to provide … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Finance and Economics, Media, Policy, Politics, Socialism, Unions | Tagged Al-Mahdi Army, Communications Workers of America, CWA, FBI, Hoover Institution, Megan McArdle, Richard A. Epstein, Stanford University, Thugs, Unions, Verizon | 16 Comments

Regulatory Uncertainty in the Obama Administration: Part III

Posted on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

So far, I have published two articles showing examples of how the Obama administration’s policy uncertainty has had a negative effect on the economic recovery. In the first piece, I showed four high level examples of how Obama administration policies have negatively impacted the economic recovery. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Finance and Economics, Healthcare, Media, Nuclear Power, Policy, Politics, Taxes, Technology, Unions, Wind | Tagged Congress, GDP growth, Obamacare, PPACA, President Obama, S&P 500 | 10 Comments

Game Theory for Middle Eastern Dictators

Posted on Monday, August 15, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Towards a Dominant Strategy In “Saudis Shrug Off Day of Rage: Three Strategies to Suppress a Revolt Before It Starts“, I argued that there are two archetypal models for a dictator to deal with popular revolts in the Middle East: crush them or … Continue reading →

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Posted in Defense, Energy Security, International Security, Mathematics, Middle East, Policy, Politics, Predictions, War | Tagged Arab Spring, Egypt, Energy security, Hamas, Hezbollah, Hosni Mubarak, Iraq, Israel, Muammar Qaddafi, Oil, Policy, Politics, President Bashar al-Assad, President Obama, Saudi Arabia, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali | 9 Comments

Regulatory Uncertainty in the Obama Administration: Part II

Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

Last week, I published an article showing four examples of how the Obama administration’s regulatory uncertainty has had a negative effect on the economic recovery. In that piece, I noted that private sector growth sharply decelerated following the passage of the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Clean Energy, Clean Tech, Finance and Economics, Healthcare, Media, Nuclear Power, Policy, Politics, Taxes, Technology, Unions, Wind | Tagged GDP growth, Obamacare, PPACA, President Obama, S&P 500 | 22 Comments

Freedom of Expression Fallacy: BART Right to Suspend Cell Service to Avert Dangerous Protest

Posted on Saturday, August 13, 2011 by Sean Patrick Hazlett

“It was a recipe for disaster… The fact that they started to conspire to commit illegal actions on the station platform was our concern. I asked myself: If my wife, mother or daughter was on that platform, would I want … Continue reading →