Free Republic

Ford Motor Co. is coming a little late to the race to design an ultra-low cost car for first-time car buyers in developing markets, but company executives have learned a lesson from rivals that moved first. Affordable, yes; cheap, no. Ford is unveiling in Brazil on Wednesday a prototype for a new tiny subcompact car called the Ka that aims to tackle the entry-level buyer in countries where being middle class means you can just afford a car that costs about $10,000, or a third the average price of a vehicle sold in the U.S. With a car like the...

With a handful of plastic boxes and over-the-counter sensors, including Wi-Fi adapters and a USB hub, Brendan O’Connor, a security researcher, was able to monitor all the wireless traffic emitted by nearby wireless devices.Brendan O’Connor With a handful of plastic boxes and over-the-counter sensors, including Wi-Fi adapters and a USB hub, Brendan O’Connor, a security researcher, was able to monitor all the wireless traffic emitted by nearby wireless devices. Brendan O’Connor is a security researcher. How easy would it be, he recently wondered, to monitor the movement of everyone on the street – not by a government intelligence agency, but...

When I’m in Europe giving speeches and participating in conferences, it’s quite common that folks on the left will attempt to discredit my views by asserting that Americans are selfish and greedy.Since I’m generally sympathetic to Ayn Rand’s writings, I don’t see anything wrong with people striving to make themselves better off. Moreover, Adam Smith noted back in 1776 that the desire to earn more money leads other people to make our lives better. One of his most famous observations is that, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their...

While visiting the lovely island of Cozumel, Mexico, Mr. Dragon and I rented a car and went around the island to one of our favorite places Señor Iguana's. This is a local place (not a chain) and they have great margaritas, excellent food and the view is one of the most beautiful of the ocean waves. As we sat down and gave our drink order to Rudy (a nice young man that we visit with every year), we noticed a table near the view, that had 4 people sitting at it. On one side, was a Muslim male, and on...

Yesterday, we briefly touched on the fact that in addition to reaffirming his wish to ban so-called "assault weapons," President Obama blames the out of control violence in Chicago on "cheap handguns." From Tuesday night's presidential debate (transcript by ABC News): Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s. They’re using cheap hand guns. Granted, Obama was short on detail about what he proposes to do about the scourge of "cheap handgun" violence, but if his solution to "assault weapon violence" (which even he admits comprises a vanishingly small...

By If you drive around Los Angeles, you’ll find gas prices all over the map. From the high $3 range to - yes, it’s true - more than $5 in some spots. And no one is happy about it. "Very upset," Israel Valenzuela said after buying gas for more than $5 a gallon at a Mobil station in Hacienda Heights. "I’m so angry at the government." So why did he pay so much? "Because I was on empty," he said. "It was just on fumes, so I had to stop here." The worst part about it was that Valenzuela could...

Fast running out of money, solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC last summer sold off nearly $60 million worth of inventory for less than $20 million in cash to a newly formed corporate entity closely tied to the company’s biggest investors, records show. Backed by $535 million in federal loan guarantees but burning through the little cash it had left, Solyndra made its first sale in late July to a corporate entity that had been formed just a day earlier. Three more transactions followed over the next few weeks with the same buyer, Solyndra Solar II.

This holiday season is a time to examine who's been naughty and who's been nice, but I'm unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy. Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet, when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates. Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, "Who Really Cares," cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an...

Tiger Woods might never return to the top of the World Golf Rankings, but at least the disgraced former star has earned a No. 1 ranking in something. Woods, despite a net worth of $500 million, is the worst celebrity tipper in America. Eldrick's excuse: He never carries cash. Woods is said to have made a woman in Las Vegas tip for him when they went out. While playing $10,000-a-hand blackjack, Tiger re-pocketed a $5 tip after realizing he tipped her early in the night.

You may be paying over $4 a gallon for gas in the U.S., or even more in Europe, but there are some corners of the world where gas costs less than a dollar a gallon. But they all have in common is something the U.S. and Europe don't have: easy and abundant access to domestically or locally produced oil. On top of that, many of these governments provide large gas subsidies to keep prices down. Some of these gas cheapskates are OPEC members, but others are just close to the source. Many are now experiencing domestic instability that may be...

Spaceships powered primarily by water could open up the solar system to exploration, making flights to Mars and other far-flung locales far cheaper, a recent study has found. A journey to Mars and back in a water-fueled vehicle could cost as little as one space shuttle launch costs today, researchers said. And the idea is to keep these "space coaches" in orbit between trips, so their relative value would grow over time, as the vehicles reduce the need for expensive one-off missions that launch from Earth. The water-powered space coach is just a concept at the moment, but it could...

REP. CONYERS TO FUNNYMAN: 'I'm asking you to leave the committee room completely, and submit your statement'... MORE... Rep. Lofgren steps in: 'Many are eager to hear his comments' ... Colbert mugs: 'I'm here at the invitation of the chairwoman, and if she would like me to remove myself from the hearing room I am happy to do so. I'm only here at her invitation'...

For the last few years IÂ’ve been seeing cheap netbooks make appearances at trade shows. They typically have tiny keyboards, 7 inch displays, ARM-based processors and either Windows CE or Linux. TheyÂ’re not for everyone. But they are dirt cheap.The only problem is that most of these mini-laptops arenÂ’t available to the general public in the US. The ones I see at trade shows are OEM products that Chinese manufacturers are trying to market to international distributors.Well, a company called ITA Computers is taking them up on the offer and selling a 7 inch mini-laptop for just $98. You can...

Frugality. That's been the buzzword of the Great Recession.   Sliding home values, stumbling stock portfolios and a shaky job market brought with them a consciousness about spending that many of us misplaced during years of consumer overindulgence. Americans responded to the crisis by buying less, clipping coupons more and increasing savings to 4.8 percent of disposable income in December, up from near zero before the recession.   In the past year, blogs about frugality went viral. Everyone from Oprah to President Obama joined the frugality parade.   Now a new term is marching through the blogosphere: Frugality fatigue. But...

Welcome to the Golden Era of budget cars. Think about it — at one time a small budget meant buying a small car with limited equipment and even more limited style. Things are different now. Not only do inexpensive cars come decently equipped but some are even considered cool. Prices are MSRP (sticker price) plus destination charge. View List of the 20 Cheapest Cars of 2010...

Every Tuesday I go to Murphy's Taproom in Manchester to hang out with a bunch of liberty-oriented people. This is a famous event among Free-staters. About 40-60 people gather weekly for about 4 hours and eat and drink and are merry. I'm no longer allowed to go there, because I don't tip. I've written some of my thoughts about tipping in the past, and have since fleshed out my position in my mind, so I won't focus here on the reasons to tip or not to tip. Here, I want to merely explain what happened tonight. About 6 weeks ago,...

She is known for her unconventional choices and now US first lady Michelle Obama is setting another precedent by the first presidential wife to appear on a reality TV series. The First Lady will make a guest appearance on the popular series 'Iron Chef America' which features British cook Nigella Lawson as a judge, reported Daily Mail online. The episode of the popular series, which pits well-known chefs against each others, has been filmed at the White House and will be aired in the New Year. Many of the ingredients for the meals prepared in the show were chosen from...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – James and Maria Ivory's dreams of a relaxing retirement on Florida's Gulf Coast were put on hold when they discovered their new home had been built with Chinese drywall that emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. It got worse when they asked their insurer for help — and not only was their claim denied, but they've been told their entire policy won't be renewed. Thousands of homeowners nationwide who bought new houses constructed from the defective building materials are finding their hopes dashed, their lives in limbo. And experts warn that cases like the Ivorys',...

This was announced by the Obama administration last evening. President Barack Obama on Friday slapped punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the United States from China in a decision that could anger the strategically important Asian powerhouse but placate union supporters important to his health care push at home. Obama had until Sept. 17 -- next week -- to accept, reject or modify a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that a rising tide of Chinese tires into the U.S. hurts American producers. A powerful union, United Steelworkers, blames the increase for the loss of thousands of...

This an unrestricted tout of an "incredible" printer. It's a Brother HL-2140 monochrome-only, but there are a few other brands like this. Monochrome only, laser printer, the cartridges are REALLY cheap, and they have significant life. The cart that comes with the printer is good for 1000 pages. The replacement ones are 1500 pages. Tired of having to refill or rebuy ink-jet printer cartridges, especially since 98% of my printing is just monochrome anyway. This little dude was SIXTY BUCKS at Fry's, including the cartridge. It's USB-only (no parallel input) That may have SOME impact on one's ability (in Windows)...