I Tried To Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up.
Maybe DOGE will succeed where the U.S. Digital Service (mostly) failed.
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Photo: The First Nuclear-Powered Battery
A radioactive isotope embedded in a diamond has the potential to power devices for thousands of years.
Brickbats: March 2025
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
DOGE Is Good. It's Not Enough.
Even if the Department of Government Efficiency eliminates all improper payments and fraud, we'll still be facing a debt explosion—which requires structural reform.
Self-Interest Helps Everyone
Entrepreneurial greed is why we have iPhones, refrigerators, cars that usually work, supermarkets that stay open all night, and many of the things that make our lives better.
North Dakota's 'Truth-in-Sentencing' Bill Could Cost More Than $250 Million
The bill would also create mandatory minimum jail sentences for fleeing the police.
Trump Bans A.P. From Oval Office for Not Saying 'Gulf of America'
A dust-up over geographical nomenclature is silly, but it signals the Trump administration's hostility to the First Amendment and freedom of the press.
What Is the SEC Hiding?
To settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission, you must swear silence.
Elon Musk Implausibly Claims 'Competence and Caring' Can Cut the Federal Budget Deficit in Half
The DOGE director wildly exaggerates what can be accomplished by tackling "waste, fraud, and abuse" in government spending without new legislation.
The Document That Explains Why Nationalists Keep Trying To Ban Porn
Do lawmakers believe they should be trying to make more Christians?
Presidents Should Not Ignore Court Rulings
Vice President J.D. Vance believes presidents can ignore the courts in some situations. Are we heading for a constitutional crisis?
Sean McMeekin: Don't Whitewash the History of Communism
Historian Sean McMeekin dissects how communism has enduring and resurgent appeal in the West despite its history of violence and economic disaster.
Elon's 'Daily Proctology Exam'
Plus: Vance's AI speech, bubble boy playgrounds, Delaware antagonizes founders, and more...
Little Rock, Arkansas, Drops Intrusive, Ineffective ShotSpotter System
For all the money spent on it, the gunshot detection system has a spotty record at best.
The DOGE Bait and Switch
The pretend department’s downgraded mission reflects the gap between Trump’s promise of "smaller government" and the reality of what can be achieved without new legislation.
The Best of Reason: How the Fair Housing Act Gave Us Emotional Support Parrots
The right to a reasonable accommodation has produced some absurd results.
Marc Fogel, Who Was Imprisoned in Russia for Having Medical Marijuana, Is Freed
Fogel's story closely mirrored that of Brittney Griner's. But he did not receive the same urgency from the Biden administration, even though he was arrested six months prior.
Donald Trump Goes to War Against Universally Hated Paper Straws
The White House's new executive order halts federal purchases of paper straws and calls for the creation of a national anti–paper straw strategy.
Trump's Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Are Bad News for American Energy
"This really is one of the dumbest things we could be doing."
Will Trump Try To Shut Down the Department of Education?
While Trump can't dissolve the department by executive action, getting rid of it through legislation is still a good idea.
Why Are We Fighting?
When regulations limit what kind of housing can be built, the result is endless arguments about what people really want.
Trump's New Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum Won't Help American Manufacturing
And it's not about "fairness." Quite the opposite, actually.
Trump's Empty and Expensive Plan To Build 250 Statues of 'American Heroes'
The president's planned National Garden of American Heroes might be a nice idea, but it would be extremely costly—and unnecessary.
'All Hell Is Going To Break Out' in Israel
Plus: OpenAI vs. Musk, Eric Adams corruption charges dropped, and more...
Will Trump and the New GOP Congress Get to the Bottom of COVID-19's Origin?
It's a good sign that the president is calling on critics of the federal government's lack of transparency to staff his administration.
DOGE vs. Deep State
Plus: A listener asks the editors if there are reasons to be optimistic about the future of freedom in the United States.
Corrupt Albuquerque Cops Had Friends in High Places, Including Internal Affairs
For a decade and a half, officers made DWI cases go away in exchange for bribes, relying on protection from senior officers implicated in the same racket.
New Hampshire's Bad Parenting Bill Is a Nightmare
"I happen to be a tax-and-spend liberal," says Richard Wexler, "but this bill provides not one iota of additional help."
Life, Liberty, and the Right To Shitpost
Generative AI is a powerful tool for creativity and speech. Efforts to censor, regulate, and control it threaten America's tradition of open discourse.
Louisiana's Puzzling Prosecution of a New York Abortion Doctor
Prosecutors claim the case is about coercion. So why isn’t that the charge they are bringing?
Trade Wars That Never Happen Still Have Costs
One CEO says the uncertainty created by Trump's chaotic trade policies is "reminiscent of the adjustments we had to make during Covid-19."
How Antitrust Crusaders Brought a Porn App to iPhones
The E.U.'s Digital Markets Act is making it easier for iPhone users to watch porn.
5 of the Worst USAID Scandals in History
The agency's low points, from working with child sex abusers to enabling drug trafficking
California Teachers Make 6 Figures on Average. Now They Demand More.
Plus: Steel and aluminum tariffs, Venezuelan sanctions and deportations, and more...
Kill the Federal Department of Education
We could decentralize education, improve outcomes, and help reduce the size of the federal Leviathan.
Is the HALT Fentanyl Act Delusional or Just Performance Art?
The bill would permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs—and impede therapeutic research.
Trump's Labor Secretary Pick Is a Union Favorite—and a Threat to Right-to-Work Laws
Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s record shows a troubling pattern of undermining workplace freedom and expanding federal control over state labor policies.
The Strange Case of The Immortality Key
Many people depicted in a supposedly "groundbreaking" book on psychedelics and religion are now speaking out against it.
The Most Controversial Paper in the History of Psychedelic Research May Never See the Light of Day
Researchers gave psilocybin to two dozen religious clergy. Was it guided by science, religion, or some awkward combination?
Did the U.S. Provoke Russia's Invasion of Ukraine?
Antiwar.com's Scott Horton and The Free Press's Eli Lake debate U.S. foreign policy and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Javier Milei Ended Rent Control. Now the Argentine Real Estate Market Is Coming Back to Life.
"The effects were immediately seen by everyone and they were all beneficial," says the former vice president of Argentina's central bank.
Two Injunctions Against Trump's Citizenship Decree Expose the Weakness of His Arguments
Federal judges in Washington and Maryland say the president's attack on birthright citizenship flouts the 14th Amendment and 127 years of judicial precedent.
