(Source: AFP) What sort of fabulous new energy systems will the world possess in 2040? Which fuels will supply the bulk of our energy needs? And how will that change the global energy equation, international politics, and the planet’s health? If the experts at the U.S. Department of Energy are right, the startling “new” fuels […]

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Citing concerns about linking to classified material, Johns Hopkins University asked a professor this morning to remove a blog post discussing  last week’s revelations about the NSA’s efforts to break encryption. The post had linked to government documents published by ProPublica, the Guardian, and the New York Times. Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins, which is short drive from the […]

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Photo: Detroit, 1942 via Wikipedia After the 1805 fire that left 600 Detroit residents homeless, territorial Judge Augustus Woodward announced he had copied the plans for the soon-to-be-built Washington, D.C., and he would use them to create an even greater city. That inspired Father Gabriel Richard to bless the plan with the Latin phrase Resuget […]

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(Source: sneurgaonkar/Flickr/Creative Commons) In 1995, we encountered a group of economic advisors to Governor John Engler of Michigan, intent on cutting property taxes. We reminded them of California’s 1979 Proposition 13. After Prop. 13 rolled back and froze property taxes, sales taxes reached crushing levels, budget crises became routine, local services collapsed, and public schools […]

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How’s your 401(k) doing? Working Americans ask themselves this question—and angst about the answer—an awfully lot these days. And why not? For most Americans, retirement has turned chillingly stark: Either you have a robust set of investments in your 401(k) or you’re facing a rocky retirement. This article was originally published in Too Much and […]

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