Appears to be paternalistic overregulation or feel good measures! How much is enforceable and how much will be enforced!
Customers/shoppers are not that dumb!
Showing posts with label government overregulation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government overregulation. Show all posts
Thursday, September 24, 2026
India’s New Online Shopping Rules: What Changes for You? with Palki Sharma
Monday, August 31, 2026
EU Commission designates ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox under Digital Services Act | Shaping Europe’s digital future. Really!
Most likely a very stupid big government decision! Reeks of government paternalism!
Apparently, the EU wants to fall further behind in AI!
I hope OpenAI or Reddit and others affected will shut down their service in the European Union in response to this decision by the EU Commission!
"These services declared that they reach at least 45 million average monthly users in the EU and thus meet the threshold for designation.
Following the notification of the designations, these services have four months, i.e. by January 2027, to comply with the additional DSA obligations for VLOPs [Very Large Online Platforms] and VLOSEs [Very Large Online Search Engines], such as assessing and mitigating the systemic risks [???] stemming from their service and algorithmic systems related to the
dissemination of illegal content [???], the
negative effects on minors [???],
users’ physical and mental well-being [???],
fundamental rights [???],
electoral processes and public security [???]. ..."
"... The designations bring the total number of platforms and search engines under the DSA's strictest tier to 28.
The regulation has already produced around €870 million in fines, including a record €550 million penalty against AliExpress in July for failing to curb the sale of illegal and counterfeit goods, a €200 million fine against Temu in May for comparable failings and a €120 million fine against X in December 2025 over content moderation and transparency shortcomings. ..."
EU places ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox under strictest digital safety rules "Brussels has classified ChatGPT as a search engine under the Digital Services Act, a first for an AI chatbot, and designated Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms. All three have four months to comply."
Credits: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Saturday, August 01, 2026
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unfortunate legacy, the Employment Rights Act of 2025
Recommendable! How stupid is this new law!
Was Keir Starmer a mediocre PM to put it mildly? I bet he was!
For decades, the government of the UK is heading in the wrong direction! Here is another example!
Once a classical liberal and largely free market economy is more and more becoming socialist since 1945.
Most of the victims of this legislation will be young individuals entering the labor market or inexperienced individuals of any age trying to change jobs etc. These adverse effects have been known for several decades!
"... Burdensome regulations, such as
day one paternity leave,
ordinary parental leave, and
statutory sick pay
might on the face of it look beneficial to workers, but not if they make employers more adverse to hiring new workers, especially young people without previous work experience. Young people who are either working flexible hours or looking for a permanent job don’t want mandated employment benefits if it means we won’t be hired in the first place.
Other regulations, such as workers being given the right to sue their employer for unfair dismissal after 6 months on the job – reduced from 2 years – will only create a more legalistic market, where employers spend more time managing legal risk than creating employment opportunities.
One benefit of having a free labour market is that it allows young and inexperienced workers the chance to gain experience and skills.
If the cost of hiring increases because of new employment rights, then it will be the youngest and least essential workers that will be laid off, or employers will simply hire less people. ..."
Friday, July 17, 2026
EU Ökodesign-Richtlinie 2026: Was sich ab dem 24. Juli für Ventilatoren ändert. Wirklich!
War das notwendig? Welche Regulierungswut in der EU und in der Bananenrepublik D! Welcher Wahnsinn!
Das erinnert irgendwie an das berühmte Zitat von Präsident Ronald Reagan: "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
"Die neue Ökodesign-Verordnung für Energy-related Products (EU) 2024/1834 (ErP 2026) hebt die Mindestwirkungsgrade für Ventilatoren spürbar an und bewertet die Effizienz weiterhin über den Fan Efficiency Grade (FEG), jedoch auf Basis aktualisierter Messbedingungen. Darauf weist der Hersteller ebm-papst hin. ..."
Thursday, May 07, 2026
European Commission Releases ‘Simplified’ Deforestation Regulation. Really!
Bad news! Beware of the EU hegemons and do gooders! What an extra and unnecessary burden on businesses!
European colonialists at work again telling the wold what to do and not to do!
"In 2023, the European Union adopted regulations to prevent global deforestation and combat climate change. Originally set to go into effect in 2024, implementation has faced multiple delays and growing calls to reduce the scope of the regulation.
On May 4, the European Commission released the results of a simplification review of the EU Deforestation Regulation. Despite push back from the United States, and possible conflicts with the agreement reached in August, the review did not result in delays or significant reductions. ..."
"... The EU Deforestation Regulation aims to ensure that key goods placed on the EU market do not contribute to deforestation and forest degradation, both within the EU and globally
as they are among the most significant contributors to climate change [???] and biodiversity loss. The main driver of deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land linked to the production of seven commodities covered by the regulation – cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber, and some of their derived products.
Under the Regulation, any operator or trader who places these commodities on the EU market, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the products do not originate from recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation. ..."
Commission publishes simplification review of EU Deforestation Regulation (original news release)
Wednesday, May 06, 2026
White House signals it will more closely regulate AI industry possibly modeled on the FDA drug approval process. Really!
Bad news! Pray and hope that President Trump will not make this mistake!
The FDA drug approval process is slow and cumbersome etc.!
"US signals it will more closely regulate AI industry
The White House is preparing an executive order to create a vetting system for new artificial intelligence models, modeled on FDA drug approval processes, according to National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
The move follows Anthropic’s disclosure that its Mythos model can identify network vulnerabilities and poses potential cybersecurity risks; the Trump administration is currently testing the model across federal agencies and large tech firms before wider release.
Hassett said the vetting process would likely extend to all AI companies, not just Mythos, though it remains unclear whether the order would mandate testing or operate as a voluntary framework. The announcement represents a potential shift toward regulation for an administration that has generally favored hands-off AI policy. Separately, the Commerce Department expanded a voluntary testing program on Tuesday, with Google, Microsoft, and xAI now providing the government early access to assess their models’ security and capabilities. " (Source)
"... But in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett confirmed that the White House is considering an order that would allow the administration to block the release of AI models deemed unsafe.
“We’re studying possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap to everybody about how this is gonna go, and how future AIs that also potentially create vulnerabilities should go through a process so that they’re released into the wild after they’ve been proven safe — just like an FDA drug [???],” said Hassett. ..."
"... “We’re studying, possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap to everybody about how this is going to go and how future AIs that also potentially create vulnerabilities should go through a process so that they’re released to the wild after they’ve been proven safe, just like an FDA drug [???],” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Fox Business. ..."
White House Prepares Order to Boost AI Security, Hassett Says (behind paywall)
Kevin Hassett (perhaps someone President Trump needs to fire?)
Friday, December 19, 2025
US Big Banks No Longer Bound by Federal Climate Accounting Rules
Good news! Bravo!
"In another big move against climate alarmism under the Trump administration, quietly on October 16, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rescinded a set of rules called the “Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions,” imposed in 2023 under the [46th President] administration.
The rules required that banks specify and disclose what steps they were taking to account for and manage or mitigate climate-related financial risks to their institutions. The 2023 rules were specifically tailored to force banks with more than $100 billion in assets “to integrate climate considerations into governance, scenario analysis, and risk oversight,” including operations and commercial banking, personal loans, and public bond underwriting. ..."
"The federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the withdrawal of interagency Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions.
The agencies do not believe principles for managing climate-related financial risk are necessary because the agencies’ existing safety and soundness standards require all supervised institutions to have effective risk management commensurate with their size, complexity, and activities. ..."
Credits: The Heartland Institute (The Heartland Institute Climate Change Weekly newsletter)
Agencies Announce Withdrawal of Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management (original news release) "Joint Release/Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation/Federal Reserve Board/Office of the Comptroller of the Currency"
Thursday, December 04, 2025
President Trump said he plans to roll back federal fuel-economy rules for passenger vehicles
Good news! Bravo!
CAFE is an example of horrible socialist central planning and unconstitutional!
"Under the changes, the federal government would require an average of 34½ miles a gallon for vehicles by model year 2031, down from the 50.4 miles a gallon standard set by the Biden administration.
Congress and the Trump administration this summer essentially nullified the existing mandates—known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules, or CAFE—by eliminating fines for violating them."
Source (Chart is possibly outdated and it lacks horizontal lines)
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Deregulating Drug Development in the US
It has been criticized many times for the past 30 and more years that the efficacy requirement is superfluous and unnecessary! Will President Trump finally do something about it in his second term!
The thalidomide tragedy/scandal with some horrifying pictures of severely deformed babies of the late 1950s/early 1960s is also very well known. However, should the wrong conclusions then still drive drug development at the end of the first quarter of the 21st century? Absolutely not!
"... Before 1962, developing a new drug took just two years; it now takes 12 to 14 years. Since 1975, capitalized drug development and approval costs have increased at 7.5% per year in real terms, doubling every 10 years. Given this growth rate, we estimate that drug development costs are now, on average, nine billion dollars per successful new drug.
Why does the process take so much longer and cost so much more? Because, since 1962, drug companies have needed to prove, to the Food and Drug Administration’s satisfaction, that new drugs are safe and effective for a particular disease or condition.
Between 1938 and 1962, drug companies were required to prove safety, but not efficacy. With our proposal, the safety requirement would still stand. Safety, after all, is the most important aspect of any drug, given that all past drug tragedies have been about safety, not efficacy. The proof of efficacy requirement—where most drug development costs, risks, and time are incurred—provides little value for patients and doctors.
Why were the rules changed in 1962 to require proof of efficacy? Some members of Congress believed that they needed to do something after a tragedy in the early 1960s in which more than 10,000 babies, mainly in Europe and Australia, were born deformed after their pregnant mothers took a sedative called thalidomide. Ironically and illogically, because of thalidomide’s safety problem the rules were changed to require proof of efficacy—a puzzling non sequitur. The FDA had been charged with ensuring that new drugs were safe for more than two decades before the thalidomide situation. Thalidomide was effective; what it wasn’t was safe. ..."
Photo of a deformed baby's feet
Friday, August 22, 2025
Will the US (or other Western countries) Be a Safe Harbor for AI—Or a Roadblock?
Unfortunately, Western countries do have a tendency to smother and stifle innovation with heavy regulation!
"Senator Ted Cruz wants a federal moratorium on state-level AI regulation, centralizing authority in Washington. But if the federal government takes control, who controls the bureaucracy that will decide which AI products get licensed — and which get banned? ..."
Sunday, August 17, 2025
President Trump signed Executive Order to Ease US Commercial Spaceflight
Good news! Bravo! Reduce government overregulation! Ready for take off! 😊
"“U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to streamline federal regulation governing commercial rocket launches, a move that could benefit Elon Musk’s SpaceX and other private space ventures.
Trump’s order, among other things, directs the U.S. transportation secretary to eliminate or expedite environmental reviews for launch licenses administered by the Federal Aviation Administration, the White House said in a statement.”"
"... It is imperative that we build on the far-reaching actions taken by my Administration during my first term to ensure that new space-based industries, space exploration capabilities, and cutting-edge defense systems are pioneered in America rather than by our adversaries. ..."
Sunday, August 10, 2025
China is proving that nuclear power in the West is way more expensive than it needs to be
Recommendable! Food for thought!
The West (in particular Germany) certainly has excessively driven up the cost of nuclear power generation due to largely exaggerated fears of nuclear accidents, radioactivity etc.
On the other hand, communist China may have dangerously risked the life of their citizens by quickly building and operating about 58 nuclear power plants.
"... While the US and France have seen costs climb for decades thanks to overregulation, bespoke reactor designs, and fragmented supply chains, China has kept costs low by doing the opposite."
"Once again, the world is betting on nuclear power. The United States aims to quadruple its nuclear capacity by 2050, and more than 30 countries have pledged to triple global capacity by mid-century.
China has more than 30 reactors under construction and in planning, and
France has announced plans to build 14 reactors. Technology giants, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft, are also investing in nuclear to power their energy-hungry data centres ...
A central challenge remains: can development be done at a manageable cost? Historically, the industry has faced a ‘cost escalation curse’. Building more nuclear reactors has led to higher, not lower, costs per watt, hampering their economic viability. ...
The cost of building nuclear power plants can soar because of a lack of standardized designs, rising material and labour costs, evolving regulations and technical complexities. ...
China’s success in curbing costs
Over the past two decades, China has been the main country to substantially and consistently expand its nuclear fleet, to 58 operating reactors in 2024.
Since 2022, the government has been approving around ten new reactors each year, putting China on track to surpass the United States and become the world’s largest holder of nuclear power capacity by 2030. ...
Our findings are striking. Whereas construction costs increased substantially between the 1960s and 2000s, by around tenfold in the United States and by nearly twofold in France, they had halved in China by the early 2000s and have remained largely stable since.
Various strategies were used to keep technological costs down, such as building larger plants for scale efficiency and leveraging accumulated experience. ...
The key driver of cost reduction has been China’s deliberate effort to build domestic capacity in civil nuclear power, which unfolded in three stages.
From the 1990s to 2005, China imported foreign reactors to deploy immediately while gradually producing simple, conventional components domestically and using Chinese firms for civil engineering and construction to reduce costs. At the same time, it began researching and developing its own reactor design based on French technology.
Between 2005 and 2010, these efforts to localize production advanced to include more complex, safety-critical components, such as reactor cores. China ramped up capacity, building about 30 reactors using two domestically developed model types. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, China accelerated the adoption of advanced safety features by collaborating with partners from the United States and France, while developing its own advanced reactor models. ..."
China reins in the spiralling construction costs of nuclear power — what can other countries learn? (partial open access) "Strengthening regulations and domestic supply chains could be key to making nuclear power more economically viable."
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
The EPA wants to rescind a landmark scientific finding on greenhouse-gas emissions
Good news! Long overdue that this nonsense is being rescinded! Bravo President Trump!
Since when is a trace gas like life and plant essential atmospheric CO2 an endangerment? What an absurdity!
Monday, July 21, 2025
Opel Chef Huettl: „Das Angebot an bezahlbaren Kleinwagen hat durch EU-Vorschriften drastisch abgenommen“
Tolle Schlagzeile! Dem ist wenig hinzuzufügen!
Vielleicht sind das jedes Jahr dieselben Klagen, aber sie sind leider zutreffend.
Thursday, July 03, 2025
More than 100 companies like ASML, Airbus, Mistral Ask EU to Delay Start of AI Act Rules for two years
Good news! The EU has been infamous for overregulation of businesses for the last several decades!
"More than 100 European companies including ASML, Airbus, and Mistral AI have asked the European Union to hold off on implementing its landmark AI regulation for two years, claiming it puts the bloc’s AI ambitions at risk ..."
From the open letter:
"Europe has long distinguished itself by its ability to strike a careful balance between regulation and innovation. This approach is widely recognised around the world as a cornerstone of the "European model."
It is particularly important in the context of artificial intelligence (AI), whose impact, as a transformative technology, reaches far beyond the tech sector. Like the industrial revolutions brought about by steam power or the Internet, AI will redefine entire economic domains – from energy and manufacturing to life sciences and defense.
At a time of unprecedented technological, economic, and geopolitical change, Europe’s ability to lead in AI innovation and adoption will be critical to meet the competitiveness and sovereignty challenges so clearly identified by Mario Draghi – especially in our most established and strategic industries.
Unfortunately, this balance is currently being disrupted by unclear, overlapping and increasingly complex EU regulations. This puts Europe’s AI ambitions at risk, as it jeopardises not only the development of European champions, but also the ability of all industries to deploy AI at the scale required by global competition. ...
The upcoming digital omnibus package and the digital fitness check must reflect a decisive pivot toward a more proportionate, innovation-friendly regulatory approach. These simplification efforts should benefit SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups and large established companies alike, who will all contribute to driving innovation if they can take advantage of clear and predictable rules. ...
In this context, we welcome recent discussions considering the need to postpone the enforcement of the AI Act as relevant guidelines and standards continue to be developed, and as various industries work together to find solutions that work for everyone. To address the uncertainty this situation is creating, we urge the Commission to propose a two-year “clock-stop” on the AI Act before key obligations enter into force, in order to allow both for reasonable implementation by companies, and for further simplification of the new rules. ..."
Airbus, ASML, Mistral Bosses Ask EU to Pause AI Rules (WSJ) "Pressure is mounting to streamline and water down EU laws governing everything from carbon emissions reporting to data protection"
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Congress overturns California’s 2035 EV mandate
Good news! Let this socialist insanity be over with!
Friday, May 02, 2025
‘Unjustified Burdens’: Senate Passes Resolution to Repeal 46th President Era Appliance Rule
This is not enough!
E.g. consumer dishwashing machines are way too slow and that government regulation long predates the 46th President!
More deregulation of household appliances please!
"... The Senate passed a joint resolution to repeal a Department of Energy appliance standard on Wednesday by a margin of 52-46, further advancing the rollback of [46th President]-era green energy regulations on household appliances.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is the lead sponsor of the joint resolution of disapproval, HJ Res. 42, which aims to nullify a rule issued by the Energy Department on Oct. 9, 2024, under former [46th President], which added new efficiency and reporting regulations for appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, and AC units. ...
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Why does China dominate the world market for processed rare earth minerals with a share of about 85%?
It is Western stupidity! Too much government overregulation and environmentalism prevents the processing of rare earth in Western countries.
One could also say Western countries offloaded the processing to China to satisfy green activists!
"... While China only controls about 30 percent of the rare earth minerals known to exist on the planet, they process about 85 percent of it. This is down from a peak of 97 percent a few years ago.
The reason why they are able to dominate is partially because of American bureaucracy and hypocrisy. Our bureaucracy creates mountains of red tape that must be navigated in order to get these elements out of the ground (or ocean) and into useable form, in large part due to environmental concerns. ..."
Friday, April 11, 2025
Australian hobbyist who ordered radioactive materials over the internet walks away from court
News from down under! How serious are actually the reported mental health issues of this man?
What is one of the obvious and significant imports of this story: Today, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre would not have been able to do their pioneering research involving radioactivity anymore!
"A 24-year-old Australian man who ordered uranium and plutonium to his parents’ apartment has been allowed to walk away from court on a two-year good behaviour bond.
After ordering various radioactive samples over the internet in an effort to collect the entire periodic table, Emmanuel Lidden pleaded guilty to two charges: moving nuclear material into Australia and possessing nuclear material without a permit. ...
While his actions were criminal, the judge concluded that [Emmanuel] Lidden had mental health issues and displayed no malicious intent. He is the first person in Australia to be sentenced under the 1987 nuclear non-proliferation act for the importation and possession of nuclear material without the appropriate permits. ..."
Emmanuel Lidden
I found this image also associated with Mr. Lidden
Website visitors prompted to accept cookies since 2002 annoyance
When will this stupid and annoying government regulation finally be scrapped! This paternalistic nonsense has been going on since 2002 or so!
One of the more reasonable solutions for adults would be a personalized configuration of the web browser with respect to cookies etc.
President Trump are you listening/reading? MAGA! Get rid of these regulations please!
Google search result:
"Websites are required to ask for permission to use cookies due to international laws like the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the EU and similar state laws like the CCPA (California Consumer Protection Act). These laws aim to protect user data and ensure transparency by requiring websites to inform users about how their data is being collected and used, and to obtain their consent before doing so."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)