State of Illinois is in hock, productive people on the hook
There’s an aphorism that us free marketeers say often: “If you subsidize something, you get more of it.” That’s always the case when government starts a “war” on some...
My fears about buying a home
Many people in my life have made the jump to home ownership in the past 6 months: one of my best friends and business associate purchased a great home for his wife and himself, a family member upgraded...
Amazon versus Macmillan, Hachette, Publishers, Authors, etc.
When Amazon decided to try to fight publishers by telling them they were going to sell e-books at a fixed price ($9.99), Apple came in with their iPad and another e-book store to give publishers the option...
I voted today
I voted today. Not in a voting booth, and not with a ballot. I voted today when I woke up. Â My internal alarm clock told me I had to get up early, so at just before 6am, I arose. Â I turned on the lamp...
Where are the real 3D avatar movies?
It’s been a sidenote in science fiction books for decades, especially in Jack McDevitt’s “Hutch” series of books: the ability for a computer to generate, in real-time, a movie that...
Get rid of Ticketmaster and Ticket Brokers
I’ve never understood the need for Ticketmaster or ticket brokers in general: when bands have tickets to sell, why do they have to have a third party do it? Ticket brokers have inside reaches to...
Check out a friend if you need 3D design work
A little plug here for a friend and contractor that I use, Mr. Brad Ahrens, a young and driven Chicago 3D designer who is now taking freelance jobs. If you need work done in Maya or 3D Studio Max, give...
RC2 Corp (Thomas & Friends) to pay $1.25 million fine for lead in toys
RC2 Corp, headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, and one of its subsidiaries, Learning Curve Brands, Inc., was hit with a $1.25 million fine for knowingly importing and selling Thomas & Friends toys...
GM manufactures the final V-8 Big Block engine
Only accounting for 3% of GM’s Tonawanda plant’s production, General Motors finally retired their L18 V-8 big block engine on Friday, December 18, 2009. Dating back over 50 years, the big...
President Obama rips “Fat Cat Bankers,” his lips are moving
“I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat-cat bankers on Wall Street,” President Barack Obama said when interviewed by 60 Minutes on CBS. Here we have what we’ve always...
Why Climate-Gate doesn’t matter to me
Climate-Gate is big in the news, bigger in the blogosphere, and seems to be cluttering up my Facebook newsfeed with debate points from both sides. As with anything to do with corporate-shill “science,”...
FCC to pry open cable box monopolies
I haven’t had cable in years — as an advocate of providing my expendable income towards only competitive markets where I have a choice, I’ve fallen away from giving a single red cent...
College tuitions up 6.5%, but is it a surprise?
College is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many students just entering their higher education years, with the average tuition jumping to $7,020 per year for a 4 year college, says the College Board...
No to jumbo beer cans says City of Arlington Heights
It’s a sure-fire news topic of 2010: overcriminalizing. The Federal government is doing it (even though the Constitution restricts the Federal government to only criminalizing things like piracy...
Todd Stroger vetoes Cook County sales tax rollback
Cook County, Illinois, where Chicago is located, has a sales tax rate of 1.75%, which brings Chicago’s sales tax to 10.25%, one of the highest in the nation. The Cook County Board resolved to reduce...
$20 a gallon, will life change? (Christopher Steiner)
Local Evanston journalist Christopher Steiner has a book ranking in the top few thousand at Amazon titled “$20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for...
Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan should be legally put to death
The cases of Pennsylvania judges Mark A. Ciavarella, Jr. and Michael T. Conahan are an example of one of the only situations where I believe our States have a right to put someone to death based solely...
The Timothy Cole case: arrest and incarcerate Michele Mallin for conspiracy to murder
The story of Michele Mallin starts out heartbreaking.  At the age of 20, she was a victim of sexual assault.  In 1985, she was a student of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX.  Mallin was walking...
Obama’s corporate cronies take power: Donald Verrilli, etc.
Republicans are known for their warmonger appointments to unelected positions. Â Democrats are no better, although this time the enemy is you and I. Â When Obama picked Biden as his VP candidate, people...
Harry Markopolos testifies to Congress: Madoff losses $15-$25 billion
We’ve written about Harry Markopolos enough, hitting Google’s top page for the searches. Â We’re the only website on the Internet that posted, in text form, the Harry Markopolos letter...
