A new report from the Department of Justice has good news and bad news. The good news is that the DEA had “a 50 percent reduction in the frequency with which laptops are lost and stolen” since 2002. Of course they can’t actually figure out what was on all those stolen computers, unlike the 160 laptops the FBI has lost or had stolen during the last 4 years — they think at least 10 of those actually had sensitive information on them. It is known that at least one of the missing...

Oh yes, I watched way too much television as a child. And one fond memory is Detective Columbo conducting his interview: he would ask a series of obvious, softball questions and come off as slightly bumbling; he would thank the person and turn to go; then almost without fail he would turn back and say “Oh! And one more thing!”. Then he would ask the one important question that would unravel the case. And that brings us to Bear Stearns. It was 9 months ago that they were forced to...

Senator Clinton: You remember that Fleetwood Mac song about “Don’t Stop Thinkin About Tomorrow” because “Yesterday’s Gone”? Let’s change tracks on that album. “Do you know how to pick up the pieces and go home?” Yes, dear, it’s that time. You’re behind on real delegates, and your answer was to ask for the rules to be changed regarding Michigan and Florida, and to say that we silly voters should be over-ruled by the almighty super-delegates....

Once again Tim Ionono has some of the better economics-for-Joe-Average commentary going on anywhere, complete with lots of colorful charts. Today he talks about the today’s GDP numbers. For those of you who are perhaps a little fuzzy on GDP — Gross Domestic Product — you can learn a bit about it here, and why it’s important here. The Short version is that “it’s a summary of how the economy is doing, based on who is spending what and whether the money stays here...

This election season we have heard a lot about “health care reform” and “health insurance reform”. Senator Clinton and Senator Obama have been sparring over the issue most of the month. On the other side of the aisle, Senator McCain has also had to address the issue of health care. Everyone agrees we have a “problem” when it comes to health care and health insurance, but there are wildly varying opinions about what should be done. We all know that almost...

It was easy to overlook if you were thinking about baseball and mortgages and FISA yesterday, but Iraqi Parliament actually managed to get some good things done. They passed a budget, for one thing. They also defined the powers of the various states — making Iraq a “federal” government. They gave amnesty to thousands of prisoners. They declared that an upcoming election would be scheduled for October 1 (oh, if only the American election cycle were so short). Best of all, these...

The FBI would like to spend about a billion dollars — that’s $1,000,000,000, one thousand million dollars — “to create a massive computer database of people’s physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists.” They admit that among other things, the efficacy and cost “will depend on how quickly technology is perfected.” By way of disclaimer, I do not mind the fact that my fingerprints had...

As I write, it is breaking news that the Fed has cut interest rates for the second time in less than 2 weeks. TheStreet.com reminds us these are the steepest cuts since 1982, bringing us to the lowest rates since 2005. From CNN: The federal funds rate, an overnight bank lending rate that affects how much interest consumers pay on credit cards, home equity lines of credit and auto loans, was cut to 3.0% from 3.5%. The rate had stood at 5.5% only four months ago. The discount rate, which is what...

Last week, when President Bush outlined his proposed stimulus package, someone asked me what I thought. My reply: First, it will raise the national debt and deficit during “wartime”. FDR was more fiscally conservative. Second, as it sits 40% of people won’t get the whole “rebate” because they didn’t pay enough taxes. Those 40% of people are the same people most likely to have a really good way to spend $800-1600. Like the rent or mortgage. Third, as if sending...

Farmers Branch, TX, a fashionable northern suburb of Dallas, has enacted an ordinance that would ban illegal immigrants from renting or owning housing. Now, don’t get me wrong: I do not support illegal immigration in any way shape or form, and I furthermore believe that laws currently on the books should be used to prosecute the employers who exploit them in low-wage, lousy-hours jobs with poor working conditions rather than pay up (and improve working conditions where possible) for a legal,...