Bizzy’s AM Coffee Biz-Econ-Life Links (081606)
Free Links:
- Brussels Journal Update — Stanley Kurtz defends the Belgian publication (covered previously here at the link’s second-last item), and notes that the outcome of the continued intimidation by the Belgian government is not consequenece-free (HT Instapundit):
The Belgian government needs to understand that a number of people here in the United States are now carefully watching the outcome of this case. Should government harassment of the Brussels Journal continue, should Paul Belien and/or any of his collaborators be punished in any way by the government of Belgium for the public expression of their opinions, and above all, should the Brussels Journal be shut down, the government of Belgium should know that this issue will not simply disappear. On the contrary, it will become a great deal more prominent, and will surely affect the attitudes of the American people toward the government of Belgium and the people of Europe.
That is already happening.
- In the midst of an editorial about whether convenience stores are crime magnets, The Toledo Blade’s editorial board reveals a Catch-22 outrage:
Beyond the general public policy question, however, opposition to convenience stores should not be used to retroactively destroy the business of a certain central-city carryout that has been in operation successfully for the past two years. City officials say the Spot Mini Mart in the 800 block of Dorr Street was mistakenly allowed to open in 2004 because of an error by a city planning employee.
The owners of the store should not be required to sacrifice their $250,000 investment because of a mistake by a city bureaucrat, one for which they bear no responsibility. Absent a proven threat to the public health or safety - which no one has shown so far - the summary closure of a business is unfair and punitive.
Two years ago, the Spot was allowed to open without a special-use permit that would have required approval by City Council. City officials say this was an oversight by a planning employee who has since retired. When the mistake was discovered, the owners were required to apply for the permit, which then was denied both by the plan commission and, last week, by Council.
Absent some sort of proof that the retired employee was “influenced” to do what he or she did, this business forfeiture is a total outrage.
- In a step to address a Big Two car company problem I mentioned near the end of this post, Ford is reducing its number of dealerships.
- Dell is recalling over 4 million laptop batteries that are fire risks (complete details of which batteries are involved are at the link) — One columnist whose column I lost track of thinks Dell may suffer a customer backlash from this. He’s probably right, even though Apple has had at least two major battery recalls that I am aware of in the past few years that, when considering the company’s size relative to Dell, were at least as significant. Both recalls got very little press, though, because the business media tend, for whatever reason, to give Apple a pass (I say this as a 21-year Mac user). And it’s not because they ignore the company, as gushers like this following the company’s recent Worldwide Developers conference show:
With each detail, the throng of 4,200 predominantly software engineers attending Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco gasped and whooped. Cameras flashed as Jobs commanded the blue-hued stage. All that was missing were the models.
- Speaking of Apple, this is ridiculous (HT Business 2.0 Blog) –
Apple has laid legal claim to the word “Pod,†arguing that other companies that use the word as part of their product names risk infringing the trademark of its popular iPod music player.
The legal campaign, which in recent days has drawn challenges to products with names such as Profit Pod and TightPod, reflects a broader attempt by some of the most successful consumer technology companies to prevent their best-known product names slipping into common useage beyond their control.
An example of one such letter to the maker of an arcade industry tracking product is here (HT Daily Tech). Next thing you know, peas are going to be under a court order to grow in something else.
