An Essential Resource for Enlightened Minds Since 1972
When NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden wanted to talk to reporter Glenn Greenwald, he insisted that they use encrypted chat. Unfortunately, Greenwald didn’t know how to go about setting that up. In fact, he needed a tutorial in how to do it. Indeed, many people do. I was looking at the download figures of various encryption… read more
Read More CommentI was in Paris one time, in a park near the Louvre museum, enjoying a lazy summer day. I wasn’t the only one with such a great idea. There were probably a few hundred others enjoying the sunshine — children playing soccer, kissing lovers entwined on the grass, businessmen on a lunch break… You can… read more
Read More CommentIn this age of Obamacare, the writings of Ayn Rand are inspiring some doctors to push back. A small, but growing group of doctors want their patients to pay cash. That’s right, cash. Their own cash. Well, OK, they’ll accept credit cards and debit cards. To get the service requires membership in a practice called… read more
Read More CommentI just spoke to a friend, Skinner Layne, who is from Arkansas, but now lives in Santiago, Chile. He emigrated there and is now heading a startup enterprise that is showing great promise. It is called Exosphere. I asked him about the backstory to the company. It turns out that he moved in 2008, six… read more
Read More CommentHave you ever been at a bar or some other public place and had to overhear some goober talking nonsense that wasn’t just offensive, but also aggressively stupid? We’ve all been there: listening to some idiot spout off on something that we know to be patently, embarrassingly wrong. We’ve all fought the urge to shut… read more
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What a weekend it’s been, like watching a global prizefight of epic proportions, with every conceivable side throwing the hardest possible punches. It began with the first leak in the U.K.’s Guardian, which was echoed in The Washington Post. The specific allegation was that the National Security Administration has obtained “direct access” to all communications… read more
Read More CommentLike the U.S., many democratic nations are suffering from permanently high unemployment, staggering public debts and budget deficits, and a deep economic recession. Although many people blame politicians for their problems, virtually no one ever considers blaming the democratic system for our woes. If you think about it, however, it’s clear that it’s the collectivist… read more
Read More CommentIt’s second-term scandal season in Washington, D.C. The folks at Fox are eating it up. But over at MSNBC, not so much. First it was Hillary Clinton’s role in Benghazi; then the AP wiretapping; and of course, the IRS looks more evil, stupid, and wasteful with each passing day. More scandals than usual? Hardly. Remember… read more
Read More CommentIs Coca-Cola being a “conscious capitalist,” or is the company capitulating? A headline on the advertising and technology blog ad:tech prompted the question for me. “Why Coca-Cola Will Voluntarily Stop Marketing to Kids,” it reads. “In an entirely voluntary move,” Coca-Cola announced that it would “cease all worldwide marketing efforts to children under 12, put… read more
Read More Comment“Possession is nine-tenths of the law” — from a Scottish expression It’s a Sunday night. October 2013. Parents are making sure the kids’ homework is done. Football fans are settling in for the night’s NFL matchup. Reigning champs, Baltimore, are about to lose. And all hell is breaking loose in the precious metals markets. Moments… read more
Read More Comment“There’s an old saying in Tennessee,” the last president said in a classic George W. Bush gem. “I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, ‘Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.’” Well, you know what he meant. But seriously, though, really;… read more
Read More CommentThere were no cubicles, no executive suites, and no visible hierarchies of power. It was just a large open room with computers and desks, and at each sat a large monitor in the shape of a medieval triptych: a large screen in the middle, flanked by one on each side. “Programmers like to have several… read more
Read More CommentThere are many theories to explain government. Most are nothing but scams, justifications, and puffery. One tries to put something over on the common man… the other claims it was for his own good… and the third pretends that he’d be lost without it. Most are not really “theories” at all… but prescriptions, blueprints for… read more
Read More CommentWhy learn economics? To know economics is to understand how the world works. Multitudes of people know nothing about the subject, and that is very sad. Economics relates to everything we do. Without that understanding, much of the operation of society will remain mysterious. Not only do you want to be the smartest person at… read more
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Woo-hoo! It is a wonderful thing when the good guys win one for a change. Well, it wasn’t a total win, but it gives hope. In a case brought by the Wisconsin state government — with full cooperation from the federal government — a jury refused to convict Amish farmer Vernon Hershberger on all counts… read more
Read More CommentIn the 15th century, the highest standard of living in the world belonged to China. Places like Nanjing had reached the pinnacle of civilization with incredibly modern infrastructure, robust economies, substantial international trade, great health care, and a rising middle class. Across the globe, Europeans were living out short, mud-filled, brutish lives in squalid poverty,… read more
Read More CommentThe dream of virtually every American is to retire as early as possible. Who doesn’t want to have each and every day to do exactly what he or she wants to do? Sure, for some people, that would be work. They like having somewhere to go every day, being valued for their services, and the… read more
Read More Comment“Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called devaluation,” Richard Nixon told his fellow Americans on Aug. 15, 1971. The 37th president had just announced the U.S. would “temporarily” close the gold window — ending the convertibility of dollars into gold that had been key to the postwar Bretton Woods system. What… read more
Read More CommentThis week is a big one in the psychiatry world. The American Psychiatric Association released the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). What is now a massive 1,000-page tome doesn’t come out very often, but when it does, as Johns Hopkins distinguished professor Paul McHugh writes, the book “shape[s]… read more
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“I have not done anything wrong,” Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’ nonprofit division, told a congressional hearing. “I have not broken any laws.” Then she invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to be second-guessed by the Congress that is supposed to be watching over all agencies of government. Seeing the IRS grilled like this… read more
Read More CommentIt’s come to this: A typical family’s health insurance costs as much as a typical family car. If you’re a typical American family, your “health” will set you back $20,728 every year. That figure comes gratis of Milliman, a benefits consulting group. A base-model Toyota Camry… the typical family’s most-popular make? It costs $22,055. Milliman’s… read more
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The study of crowds has always fascinated people in finance. It’s not hard to understand why. Markets can go to crazy extremes, extremes no one can make sense of. So, one favorite way to explain it away is to say that crowds do dumb things that individuals, upon cooler reflection, would never do. In a… read more
Read More CommentIn my youth, I did several years in Hollywood. My mother, thankfully, never found out. I told her I was a contract killer for the Yakuza, or something, to spare her the truth. Initially, my job in Tinseltown was to act as a liaison between real scientists and studios that wanted to bring some accuracy… read more
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The opening talk at the Bitcoin 2013 conference in San Jose was given by the Wilklevoss twins, purported owners of 1% of the world’s existing Bitcoins. They addressed the burning question of whether and how much Bitcoin ought to be regulated by government. Their primary message: “I don’t think anyone wants a fight — I… read more
Read More CommentKings used to “clip” and “sweat” coins constantly to pad the government treasury. Coins would be called in and filed around the edges, with the resulting loose metal coined into new currency for the government to spend. This practice has gone the way of the buggy whip, with the Federal Reserve conjuring up billions from the ether with the ease of a keystroke.… read more
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In recent years, calling yourself a libertarian has become, at least in some circles, cool. Desperate media characters like comedian Bill Maher and radio host Alex Jones claim the “L” moniker from time to time in the midst of their nuttiness: leftist environmentalism by Maher, rightist conspiratorialism by Jones. Maher seems to think being a… read more
Read More Comment The writings of H.L. Mencken — the Sage of Baltimore, the home of Agora Inc. — have been a constant companion for me since the start of my writing life. The brilliance, the language, the insight, the derring-do opinionating, the history, the astounding literacy — it’s all here, and it all flows seemingly without limit.… read more
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I’ve noticed a trend with the writings of Chris Anderson, former editor of Wired magazine and the author of a new book on 3-D printing called Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. It goes like this. He comes out with a book, and the highbrow experts say it’s crazy, that this time he has gone too… read more
Read More CommentSince before the tech bust, we’ve been suggesting that while Americans “think” they’re getting richer… they’re actually heading in the other direction. They’re getting poorer. This proposition has been easier for folks to entertain since housing busted and the financial crisis reversed the “wealth effect” in 2008. With that in mind, let’s take a look… read more
Read More CommentThe Cleveland Police Department took plenty of criticism when three girls that had been missing for a decade escaped captivity mere miles from their homes. Ariel Castro secretly held the girls hostage for years doing unspeakable things to them. In November 2001, a neighbor called the police when he heard screaming at the Castro home,… read more
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