Wiki-interesting

As you know, I'm an avid Wikipedian. It has often been noted that Wikipedia is basically a summary of all the information you can find on a given topic by Googling the topic. Very rarely do Wikipedians venture into book research in writing their articles.

I would thus say there are some similarities between Wikipedia and Anders Behring Breivik's 2083: A European Declaration of Independence. Although the media has mainly called it a "manifesto," Breivik (who Anglicizes his name as Andrew Berwick in the document) refers to it as a "Compendium." I think "Compendium" is a more accurate description. Like a good Wikipedia article, it is basically a compilation of the best source material he could find by Googling certain topics. A Wikipedia article has to paraphrase that material (to avoid copyright issues), but Breivik basically just cuts and pastes that material into a 1500-page Word document.

Ah, the lazy 21st century, when even our wacko murderous nutjobs can't be bothered to pen their own manifestos and instead rely on Control-C.

Can You Forget Old Norway?

Well, as the son of a Norwegian Canadian, the whole terrorist business in Old Norway is especially sad.

Anyhow, enjoy this song about the Norwegian diaspora (half in Norwegian, half in English). The performers are an act called Duo Scandinavica. The male performer, Jim Nelson, is from Drammen, which also happens to be the home city of one of my great-great-grandmothers.

Actually, I think that's a model CVS hired to play a pharmacist for its annual report

I've been trying to figure out of if I think CVS is a well-run company or not. Mainly because since CVS is so ubiquitous that I visit one every day or two. (For the record, there are 7,200 CVS retail outlets in the U.S. and last year, CVS Caremark had $96.4 billion in net revenue.)

I've noticed that they have been buying progressively smaller plastic bags over the last several months. These bags are seriously so small that they're barely functional. But maybe that's a sign that CVS is saving money this way and that's smart. And certainly, they're not paying a penny more for labor than they have to. The workers at the CVS near my apartment have to be the slowest, most incompetent retail employees I have ever encountered. Again, maybe that's a sign they're holding their costs down appropriately. It's not like the terrible service stops me from going there.

I did a bit of Googlework on the company, and here's what I found out. From their last annual report: in 2010, CVS shares returned 7.9% to shareholders, vs. a 12.8% return average for the S&P 500. So, not a great return. In their annual report, the letter from the CEO and president say that that result is "unacceptable." On the other hand, they led the industry in same-store sales growth in 2010 (+2.1%)

On a sidenote, I always think it's interesting to compare pharmacies in the U.S. vs. pharmacies in Canada. In the U.S., pharmacies like CVS seem to have expanded to compete against convenience stores like 7-Eleven. The Canadian pharmacy chains, like Shoppers Drug Mart or London Drugs, followed a different model. They have a more upscale feel than U.S. pharmacies - SDM usually has a perfume counter, like at a department store, and London drug sells high-end electronics.

Regulate in Favor of Me

Seeing this today, I was reminded that, while I generally oppose invasive government regulation, I do favor re-regulating the airline industry.

Now, I don't say this necessarily for altruistic purposes. I actually think that the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 was good for consumers. Sure, there are a ton of bad things with air travel today, but air travel is a LOT more accessible to an average member of the middle class than prior to deregulation act.

(On a sidenote, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend Thomas K McGraw's Prophets of Regulation, which won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for History. McGraw profiles four intellectuals who are incredibly important in the history of industry regulation in the U.S., one of whom is Alfred E. Kahn, who oversaw airline deregulation under President Carter. On a side-sidenote, I once again reiterate my position that Carter was not really that liberal. On a side-side-sidenote, I loved my trip to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in January.)

But, anyhow, for purely selfish reasons, I want re-regulation. It might hurt the average guy, but, on this topic, I say, screw the average guy. More expensive flights, so be it. If it were up to me, we'd take all of those planes with three seats on the left and three seats on the right of the aisle, I would mandate that they have to replace them with bigger seats, so only two seats on each side of the aisle. (See photo.) I'd mandate meals on every flight longer two hours. I'd ban charging extra for checking bags. I'd ban overhead bins (there are few things in life I hate more than people who hold up flight boarding with putting their hugeass bags in overhead bins). (See photo.)

I also favor massive, widespread use of eminent domain to double or triple the number of runways in the country. NIMBY be damned. Boo hoo - "I lost my house and got fair compensation" - how awful. Our delays are all caused by the fact that runways are so tightly scheduled that weather problems anywhere in the country disrupt the entire system - it's nuts.