Chris Grinolds

Guns are one of the greatest forces of inequality that I can think of. They give power to those who wield them over those who don’t. The idea that we should all get armed in response to this is about as sensible as suggesting that we should all get infected with HIV so we can stop wearing condoms.

This discussion has moved to the back burner, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Sadly, we’ll probably see another tragedy in the next few months that will make the conversation flare up again, and even more sadly, it’s likely that nothing will be done. The NRA has roughly 5 million members, but they’re so vocal and spend so much money lobbying that their opinion outweighs the 270 million Americans who want to hold gun owners accountable. When will the nonsense stop?

I’m safe. You are safe. 99.999999% of the country is safe. But there never is a completely safe, and there never will be.

Boom. Take a step back and think about the fact that at any time, anywhere something insane like this could happen. Then, go back to living your life. No sense in stressing out about things you can’t control or anticipate.

Grantland gives the Leonard Cooper story like only they can.

Amazon, as best I can tell, is a charitable organization being run by elements of the investment community for the benefit of consumers. The shareholders put up the equity, and instead of owning a claim on a steady stream of fat profits, they get a claim on a mighty engine of consumer surplus. Amazon sells things to people at prices that seem impossible because it actually is impossible to make money that way.

It’s really insane, the model they’ve managed to work out. Makes you wonder how long Wall Street will continue to play, and more interestingly, what happens then. Amazon’s far too large, with way too much intrinsic value to simply disappear.