Winning contestant dies during competitive eating event -- Death by cheesy rice buns
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
The sport of competitive eating was given a shocking reminder yesterday that gorging oneself with a daunting amounts of greasy food in an extremely short period of time may have negative effects on health. A Taiwanese graduate student vying for the "Big Stomach King" contest at Dayeh University died on Tuesday just before he could claim the winning title. The 23-year-old had chowed himself ahead of 30 other teams by consuming two buns filled with rice and cheese and helping himself to some of his teammates food as well. He was on course to win the annual campus event when...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
When Candidates Can't Lose - Making House Races Competitive again
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
Competition and democracy go hand in hand. After races that came down to the narrowest of margins in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, Americans are getting used to hard-fought, close presidential elections -- and the 2008 campaign is the most electrifying in years. Both Democratic candidates have won more primary votes than any previous nominee. Both have ushered new voters into the process, as has the sheer closeness of the campaign. But real competition is still a rare commodity in the House of Representatives, which the Framers designed to be hard-fought. For all the talk of thin majorities...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
Candidate X is Finished (great point!)
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
Just about every day for about two months now, we've all been reading columns from the talking heads telling us that "Candidate X is finished." Of course, the identity of "Candidate X" has varied depending on which of the heads is doing the talking and at which point in time. (The one constant has been Fred Thompson, whose political demise has been predicted by the partisans of Rudy and Mitt since around April of last year.) As of late, the "dead" candidates have generally Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and (of course) Fred Thompson. Before that, it was Mike Huckabee and...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
European research goes for gold
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
The ERC should give a sharper focus to European research Europe has a new flagship agency to fund the brightest ideas in science. The European Research Council (ERC) has been given a budget of 7.5bn euros (£5bn) to 2013, and will focus solely on fundamental, or "blue skies", study. It is hoped the initiative can find the breakthrough thinking - and eventually new products and services - to keep the EU's economy globally competitive. The ERC was formally inaugurated at a meeting in Berlin attended by the German Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel. She said the Council would become "a...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
U.S. Losing Its Competitive Edge
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
The U.S. dropped to sixth place from its previous first-place position in the 2006-07 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index (GCI) rankings. The U.S. fares better in this year’s "Ease of Doing Business" report, published by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, where we rank third behind Singapore and New Zealand. A remarkable story is unfolding around the globe, as the Doing Business study reveals. The report quantifies significant, widespread and aggressive reform activity in countries that aim to improve their economic and business climates. Georgia, Romania and Mexico are the top-three reformers. China and France make the top-ten...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
Hey, New York, check out the exotic "imports" - from Detroit
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
Hey, New York, check out the exotic "imports" - from Detroit. Detroit. Now that the media din has successfully canonized literally every import brand imaginable, no matter what the pedigree, and instilled a Detroit = Bad, Imports = Good mentality in the American car buying public, New Yorkers attending the New York Auto Show this week owe it to themselves to check out the "exotic" import offerings from the Motor City. And if they would take their import-oriented blinders off long enough, they would be shocked at the sheer number of competitive offerings from GM, Ford and the Chrysler Group....
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
CA: Governor's plan may not produce many more competitive seats
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to turn over the drawing of legislative and congressional districts to a panel of retired judges could threaten some incumbents, but it won't necessarily produce a lot more competitive seats. If it does manage to increase the number of districts that either major party can win, it almost certainly will boost campaign spending by, and the political influence of, special interests the Republican governor frequently criticizes, according to research by experts in drawing district lines. Schwarzenegger has proposed creating more competitive districts as part of his package of plans to overhaul state government...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
A movement in search of a cause
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
France has found a new tale of good and evil about which to make clever conversation. As usual the villains are capitalism and America, and “globalization” is the bogeyman combining the two malign forces which have, in their paranoid vision, conspired to diminish la France. Ho hum. The New York Times informs us that Parisian wine and film circles are abuzz with discussion of the surprise hit documentary Mondevino, which reportedly decries the “globalization” and “homogenization” of the world wine industry. Those under attack include Robert Parker, the American wine critic whose tastes have become the single most influential factor...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
PLEASE! STOP POSTING SAME MESSAGE ON ALL BOARDS!
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
Survey finds U.S. second in competitiveness among 104 nations
Posted by admin / Under Competitive Edge Online
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Finland is the world's most competitive economy, followed by the United States, Sweden, Taiwan, Denmark and Norway, according to a Global Competitiveness Report released Wednesday. The annual report by the World Economic Forum ranks countries according to economic growth prospects based on technological progress, the quality of public institutions and the macroeconomic environment. Finland, home to mobile phone giant Nokia (up $0.20 to $14.00, Research), captured first place for the third consecutive year for the best growth prospects, the Geneva, Switzerland-based WEF said in its survey of 104 countries. It said Finland was "very well managed"...
Published on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 07:57:13 PM
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