Adam Cohen

For people worried about the Great Recession and the uncertainty of what is coming next, the characters of 'Mad Men' are good company. ”

A little-appreciated downside of the technology revolution is that, mainly without thinking about it, we have given up 'locational privacy.' ”

Mississippi's loose campaign finance laws allow lawyers and companies to contribute heavily to the judges they appear before. That is terrible for justice, since the courts are teeming with perfectly legal conflicts of interest. ”

Republicans and blacks had an unlikely alliance around 'max black' after the 1990 census. By concentrating black voters in some districts, the strategy elected a record number of black congressmen in 1992. But the remaining 'bleached' districts were more likely to elect white Republicans. ”

One of the great debates about the Internet is whether it is making people more or less free. ”

In a perfect world, we would have put users in control of their information when the Internet was first created. ”

When tulip mania dies down, all that remains are pretty flowers. When bubbles burst, nothing is left but soapy residue. But the Internet revolution, for all its speculative excesses, really is changing the world. ”

Voter ID laws have a disproportionate impact on groups that lean democratic - including blacks, hispanics and students. ”

It is not hard to see why the FBI wants wiretapping backdoors. It would certainly make its job easier. But rejiggering the Internet so government can conveniently monitor everything we say and do online is too high a price to pay for making law enforcement more efficient. ”

If the FBI gets the 'back doors' it wants, Internet services would be required to create a massive online infrastructure for law enforcement to spy on members of the public. ”