Featured

The Death of File Sharing

Jan 27th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Politics, Technology
Last week's violent government attack on the hugely popular site Megaupload -- the U.S. government arresting Belgian citizens in New Zealand, of all places, and stealing at gunpoint servers bank accounts and property -- has sent shock waves through the entire digital world. The first shock was the realization that the ...read more


Zero Percent Uber Alles

Jan 26th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Macro Economics
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


The Fed’s Men Behind the Curtain

Jan 25th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Macro Economics
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


Hooray for the Rich Who Don’t Pay Taxes

Jan 24th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Politics
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


It’s Treason to Disagree

Jan 23rd, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Politics
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


Power vs. People in the Digital Age

Jan 20th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Politics
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


Buffett Puts His Loose Change Where His Government-Kissing Mouth Is

Jan 19th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Politics
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


Blackout Wednesday: The Time Has Come

Jan 17th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Politics
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


SOPA Dead On Arrival

Jan 16th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Politics
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


Iran: Oh, No, Not Again

Jan 13th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Oil, Politics
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