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If one ranked industries by the degree of government intervention, schools and dairies would place at or near the top of the list. Various governmental organs ruthlessly manipulate the price, quantity, and demand for "public" schooling and fluid, pasteurized cow's milk. So it's no great no shock when the government further intervenes in the market for milk that is actually sold to the schools.

The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has long postulated the existence of a distinct "school milk" market entitled to protection under the antitrust statutes. The Division's latest test comes against Dean Foods, a large dairy company that acquired two Wisconsin-based milk processing plants from Foremost Farms USA, a dairy farm cooperative, last year. The Justice Department, joined by the attorneys general of three states, wants to undo the transaction and force Dean to sell the plants to a buyer selected by the Antitrust Division.

In 1992, Jay Leno became the host of NBC's "Tonight Show," and Brett Favre played his first game as starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Eighteen years later, Favre leads the Minnesota Vikings - Green Bay's traditional rival - in a playoff run while Leno is poised to regain the hosting job he surrendered to Conan O'Brien less than a year ago. The ongoing drama surrounding both men emphasizes the difference between bureaucratic and entrepreneurial management in organizations.

The other day, a commenter [at Mises.org] chastised me for saying an "organization" didn't learn from its mistakes. Organizations, of course, can't make mistakes, only individuals. I completely agree. I was speaking in metaphor, but it's important to discourage the careless use of collectivist terminology when discussing economics.

This image - a drawing of a smiling face - is from an actual federal trademark registration. U.S. Trademark No. 1,809,410 to be precise. It was registered in 1993 byEat'n Park Restaurants of Pennsylvania for "baked goods; namely, cookies." In other words, Eat'n Park sells smiley-faced cookies in its restaurants.

On December 16, an Associated Press panel named Tiger Woods the "athlete of the decade." Since turning pro in 1997, Woods has enjoyed phenomenal success and unprecedented media adulation. Until recently, that is.

"Libertarian centralism" advocates using the federal constitution - specifically, the 14th amendment - to strike down state and local laws deemed contradictory to individual rights. The anti-centralism argument, frequently expressed by libertarian attorney Stephan Kinsella, holds that expanding federal power is not a valid means of protecting individual liberty. Centralism proponents, in turn, respond by accusing anti-centralists of supporting an incorrect reading of the constitution (not to mention a host of historical evils like slavery).

The Federal Trade Commission illegally published the private financial data of William H. Isely, the 84-year-old target of a recently dismissed FTC complaint, on the agency's website (www.ftc.gov) sometime in the past few days. Isely submitted the confidential information to the FTC as part of an application to recover over $130,000 in attorney fees, expenses, and lost business arising from the agency's malicious prosecution.