2021 is almost over — a dank, foul, depressing funhouse mirror of 2020 — and for most of us, it can’t end too soon. COVID is still here, taunting us with new mutations every time we finally think we’ve turned the corner. Americans still hate each other as much as ever. The “Real Housewives” still… Read More

  Here’s one thing that’s true no matter what you think about AOC’s politics. Those couture gowns the guests wear to the Met Gala can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and you can’t afford them if you’re wasting money on taxes you don’t have to pay! The good news is, all you have to… Read More

    Waiting for an Asteroid to strike may take a while.  Until then, you’re just going to have to suck it up and pay your share of taxes under the regular system. But there’s good news, too. For starters, about half a penny out of every tax dollar goes towards NASA, including their efforts… Read More

Four hundred years ago, a group of 50 pilgrims sat down with 100 Wampanoag guests for a three-day feast that we now celebrate as the first Thanksgiving. It was a mostly young, mostly male group that survived the colony’s harsh initial year in New England. The menu featured venison and shellfish — while Governor William… Read More

  Back in The Good Old Days, fame was something you  earned by throwing a ball, selling a million records, lighting up a cinema screen, or landing on the moon. Then Paris Hilton decided she wanted to be famous without all that bother. So, armed with little more than a famous family name and fortune, a sex… Read More

Ronald Reagan won the White House in 1980 partly by campaigning against incumbent Jimmy Carter and partly by campaigning against the 70% top income tax rate. Reagan preached a new gospel of “supply-side” economics, arguing that tax cuts would put money back in the pockets of ordinary Americans and unleash a wave of new economic… Read More

Democrats in Congress are working on an impressive list of spending priorities they hope to pass as soon as this week. There’s an infrastructure bill with $1 trillion for roads, bridges, climate resilience, and broadband access. There’s a budget reconciliation package with another $1.75 trillion for fighting climate change, child care and universal pre-kindergarten, and… Read More

    Back in 2000, a scrappy little startup named Netflix was losing millions every month on their business renting DVDs online, mailing them to subscribers through something called the “Post Office.” (Remember them?) The founders had the bright idea to sell their company to Blockbuster video — for the princely sum of $50 million… Read More

  Fifty-five years ago, NBC debuted a new series that producer Gene Rodenberry called “a Western in outer space — a so-called  Wagon Train  to the stars.”  Star Trek  starred a journeyman Canadian actor named William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, helming a crew of comically diverse stereotypes (the Russian! The Scot! The Vulcan!) aboard the Starship Enterprise.… Read More

  People have always aspired to “make the grade” and take their place on the lists of the world’s most famous and accomplished people. A generation ago, business executives and politicians aimed for Who’s Who in America, while athletes aimed for the Hall of Fame and entertainers pined for stars on the Walk of Fame. Today,… Read More