We are getting a sense of what life is like with the new Fed policy of openness. It means that the chairman tries to beat the world record for the longest, most-boring press conference in modern history. Ben Bernanke is getting even better at that crucial skill of repeatedly saying ...read more

First, a correction. A Bar regular writes... "Joe Lieberman is not a Democrat. He is an independent, as he resigned from the Democratic Party. Don't you ever check things out before stating them as facts? "Wish you the best with your paranoia," "-- Steve K" This comes from one of our most-faithful, unswerving, persistent ...read more

The government seems determined to turn out the lights on the digital age. And this is with or without SOPA or the other bills that were only this week shouted down by the global digital community on Blackout Wednesday. The very next day, after support for that legislation collapsed after ...read more

There's been a long debate over digital technology. Does it help or harm the cause of liberty, individualism and human rights? People who say it has hurt point out that government has been able to use the products of private innovation for its own purposes. The government can watch us ...read more

Amid significant pressure from tens of thousands of Internet users and major Web behemoths like Google, Facebook and Reddit, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is, in its current form, dead on arrival: "Misguided efforts to combat online privacy have been threatening to stifle innovation, suppress free speech and even, in ...read more

The debate about the Fed is under way, and thank goodness. But as with many policy debates, there really shouldn't be a debate at all. That's because, if you think about it, the idea of central banking makes no sense. We don't have a government-created central repository that plans and manages ...read more

A horrifying aspect of modern life is how nearly daily threats to fundamental freedoms and human rights nearly require that citizens become politically aware and active. Here we are struggling to put food on the table, cultivate a civilized private life, support things we care about, manage our households, and otherwise ...read more

Enthusiastic tax shill Warren Buffett has put his money where his mouth is. He's ponied up $49,000 to help pay down the national debt. He's simultaneously matching voluntary contributions already made by Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia. Yes, $49,000 to Mr. Buffett is the equivalent of 49 pennies to the rest of ...read more

Wikipedia, that ever-evolving monument to human collaboration in the cause of global enlightenment, goes completely black tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 18. The blackout is a choice, and a brilliant one, made by founder Jimmy Wales in consultation with the whole Wikipedia community. It is a protest, a statement, a symbolic warning ...read more

In each of the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, significant worries emerged that Western nations might attack Iran. Here in 2012, similar concerns are once again at the surface. Why revisit this topic again? Simply because if actions against Iran trigger a shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% ...read more