I'm not sure that the current value of the NASDAQ is justified, but I'm not sure that it isn't.

We should try to create the society each of us would want if we didn't know in advance who we'd be.

Are you, or is someone you know, a gadget freak? If so, you doubtless know that Wednesday was iPhone 5 day, the day Apple unveiled its latest way for people to avoid actually speaking to or even looking at whoever they're with.

The problem with digital books is that you can always find what you are looking for but you need to go to a bookstore to find what you weren't looking for.

I don't think I've had any great success in predicting politics or social change, nor have I really tried.

By rescuing the financial system without reforming it, Washington has done nothing to protect us from a new crisis, and, in fact, has made another crisis more likely.

Where's that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let's not make a false pretense of balance: it's coming, overwhelmingly, from the right. It's hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to be "armed and dangerous" without being ostracized; but Representative Michele Bachmann, who did just that, is a rising star in the G.O.P.