David Hines column
Note: David Hines passed away on April 1, 2017.


Born in a mill town, David Hines has seen work as a furniture mover, computer programmer/analyst, and professional musician. Observation of politics began as a toddler, since the polls were in his parents' store. He developed a keen interest in history when permitted some independent study time in junior high school.

With a wide range of interests, he is accused by friends of possessing more useless information than any other of their acquaintance. He has officially studied music and psychology, and unofficially nearly everything else. Like many a Mensa member, he can usually be found hip deep in books. Detractors can blame the thin air of the Rockies, where he once lived, for the dearth of brain cells.


Worthy effort
David Hines
February 7, 2015

A question was raised recently about valuation. Specifically, what is a human being worth? It seems an odd question. What would be the purpose of assigning a . . .


Memory of the future
David Hines
January 12, 2015

Kronos has recently yielded to his son Zeus. The infant is nurtured by the goat Amalthea and his presence hidden from Zeus by his guards, who make noise by . . .


Briar patch kids
David Hines
November 24, 2014

"Please don't throw me in the briar patch!" Collectivists will use any excuse to push ever more collectivism. No matter how many times it fails, they'll . . .


The electrical hominid
David Hines
October 20, 2014

We have been living with an emergency for millennia and have been entirely unaware of it. Yesterday Facebook experienced a brief shutdown. Los Angeles 911 . . .


Family feud is heck
David Hines
October 3, 2014

A century ago three cousins went to war. One might think that George, Wilhelm, and Nicholas might be able to work out their differences. But they were caught . . .


The bleat goes on
David Hines
July 22, 2014

Many people choose their economics like they choose their favorite bands. They enjoy the beat. No analysis required. "I can dance to it" is sufficient.  . . .


Superpsyche me
David Hines
June 5, 2014

Superheroes have become ubiquitous in film recently. Since the federal government dispenses grants even for the study of turtles' sex lives, some enterprising . . .


Crimea and punishment
David Hines
May 5, 2014

Seems like 160 years ago. The place in question was Crimea. It was then Russian territory. It is today, too – first through lease agreement, then through . . .


Pitcher perfect
David Hines
April 15, 2014

A frequent anti-market pitch is that a free market can't work because there is imperfect information. This is a rather odd contention. It presupposes that . . .


Elephants on slippery slopes
David Hines
February 28, 2014

As I write we're in the mist of the biennial celebration of tribalism and nationalism. Olympians are taking to ski slopes in a beach community on the Black Sea . . .


Temperature tantrum
David Hines
February 11, 2014

It's axiomatic that hell is hot. But "hot" has numerous meanings. Which would apply? Hell is, of course, calorically irate. Wouldn't you be with those . . .


Making altarations
David Hines
December 29, 2013

If you've spent any time at all online, you've surely seen it. Someone declares that if you believe in Christ you will be saved. Then one professed believer . . .


Motherland, may I?
David Hines
December 10, 2013

In movies things generally have to happen fast. A car chase at the speed of Florida retirees would have insufficient impact to draw in the ticket revenues, and . . .


Bully for shutdown
David Hines
November 1, 2013

The government is shutting down, and in its absence there's so much to do – taxes to not pay; raw milk to drink; unregulated lemonade stand to open; pot . . .


Fool speed ahead
David Hines
October 3, 2013

It will surprise nobody that I think funny. When someone says, "Go ahead and...," I invariably think, "Ahead of what?" Such a wise-gluteus attitude might get . . .


Mounte banks on parade
David Hines
August 24, 2013

A new crusade for politicians is serving the unbanked and the underbanked. These are people who are said to not borrow enough from, or deposit enough into, . . .


Prep School 101
David Hines
June 29, 2013

The media and government officials have some contempt for preppers – those who set aside supplies in case of some discontinuity in business as usual. Odd . . .


Making we we
David Hines
June 9, 2013

What makes me part of the "we" that hosts the RG (Mensa Regional Gathering)? Is paying my dues sufficient? Seems to me those monies go to all sorts of purposes. . . .


Coppers on the Dollar...or Euro
David Hines
May 9, 2013

Copper has long been the poor man's silver. When aristocrats traded with the latter and nobles traded with gold, common folk produced copper coins for trade. . . .


Monumental
David Hines
April 2, 2013

There's been a lot of Washington Monument Syndrome going around. Turned into an acronym it might just as well be "Weapons of Mass Scaremongering," or "Words of . . .


Wealth disparody
David Hines
March 6, 2013

Many people complain about the growing disparity between the super-rich and the rest of us. They see the problem, but their proposals for solving it sink to the . . .


Shifting into the sheer
David Hines
December 27, 2012

The turn of the year is a time of traditions. One is that many government laws and regulations take effect. This year the talk has been about the dreaded  . . .


Surrey with me on top
David Hines
November 3, 2012

My politics are sometimes called "fringe." That's quite a compliment; perhaps I'm too cynical, but I don't think it is intended to be. The core of a tree . . .


Nothing doing
David Hines
October 1, 2012

Populists are disgruntled with the Do-Nothing Senate. A new sheriff rides into town. Suddenly things can get done. Since the new guy crossed the Rubicon with . . .


Deposing demigods
David Hines
September 3, 2012

It was insufficient for Stalin to eliminate those of whom he disapproved. He had photos doctored to remove the former comrades, erasing evidence that they were . . .


Reform and function
David Hines
July 31, 2012

Many people think that some straightforward reform will solve government's problems. As sympathetic as I am to such a desire, it is an illusion. Ain't gonna . . .


Sanctioning collapse
David Hines
June 3, 2012

A number of politicians are adamant about imposing and enforcing economic sanctions upon Iran and other nations. Are these people suicidal or just plain garden . . .


To die for
David Hines
March 30, 2012

Some people, including prominent politicians, tell me that some guy in a mud hut on the other side of the world wants me dead. Therefore, they say, if I don't . . .


Barging in
David Hines
January 22, 2012

Roman Senators were the "fat cats" of their time. They made their money by owning land that overseers worked for them with slave labor. In fact, this was made . . .


Narcissus at war
David Hines
December 29, 2011

It's fashionable to say that calling for an understanding of one's opponent is "blaming America first." It is believed that this is unnecessary; all that's . . .


Roarshocking events
David Hines
December 3, 2011

If there is such a thing as an historical Rorschach test, the Greek dark ages would fill the bill. I speak, of course, of the ancient history (1200-800 BC), not . . .


Second-class warfare
David Hines
November 2, 2011

The Constitution begins, "We the People." Especially during campaign seasons, people read it as, "We Some of the People." Why wouldn't they? It's now de rigueur . . .


Bunkum & Bailout Circus
David Hines
August 29, 2011

The news has been inundated with wrangling about how to keep going into debt without going into debt. Neither side has been entirely honest. President Obama . . .


Porky and the barrel
David Hines
August 2, 2011

When and why did greedy capitalist pigs arise? The guy who built the first plow was a capitalist. Instead of hunting or foraging for immediate gratification, . . .


What Pyrrhus said
David Hines
July 1, 2011

The king of Epirus was not one to allow short-term exuberance to overcome consideration of long-term cost. After the battle of Asculum, Pyrrhus discounted . . .


Revolting!
David Hines
May 7, 2011

"(T)he only thing we have to fear is fear itself." — Franklin D. Roosevelt Uncertainty can be stressful. People are generally more content with a . . .


Exceptionally speaking
David Hines
February 27, 2011

There's nothing wrong with taking pride in one's accomplishments, nor with being proud of one's family, friends, and associations. There is something amiss, . . .


Contra the American people
David Hines
January 28, 2011

I heard a caller on C-SPAN taking issue with the term "the American people." I must say, he has a point. He didn't have much time to articulate it, so I shall . . .


Who owns what?
David Hines
December 1, 2010

Those who thought they owned mortgage-backed securities may have been mistaken. Courts have ruled that MERS, the electronic registration system created to . . .


Dividing the Pi
David Hines
October 28, 2010

Pi is an irrational number. So is the political argument about dividing it. Here are some approximate numbers: Two of the 3 to the left of the decimal . . .


Dangerous talk
David Hines
August 28, 2010

A guy I've known for decades is freaking out about communists. I'm not at all fond of communism, nor other forms of socialism, but socialists are nice enough . . .


Homeless on the range
David Hines
July 23, 2010

We libertarians are indeed politically homeless. If it wasn't already obvious, eight years of George W. Bush and over a year of Obama have demonstrated this . . .


Disempowering ideas
David Hines
June 23, 2010

Who knows how long I'll get away with writing this stuff? I may be reduced to such hard-hitting exposes as recipes for pine nuts and how to make dandelion wine . . .


Salty language
David Hines
May 26, 2010

First they came for the marijuana. Then they came for the vitamins. Now they want your salt. Not satisfied with a theoretical 100% claim on your income, the . . .


Ghost of markets past
David Hines
April 23, 2010

I've long ago ceased expecting political rhetoric to make sense. There has been much talk of how another government program will "unleash the entrepreneurial . . .


Cents of entitlement
David Hines
March 30, 2010

Some items, both new and not so new, have come to my attention recently. At first glance they may seem unrelated, but if one takes a step back they start to . . .


Bertha Hines R.I.P.
David Hines
December 22, 2009

I recently had occasion to deliver the following words: Decades ago, when lettuce pickers were on strike, Bertha's friends and neighbors had leaf lettuce. It . . .


Dear scientists in the headlights
David Hines
December 18, 2009

The revelations of fraud by climatologists have wider repercussions than may at first be apparent. The reaction by proponents of the Copenhagen accord are . . .


Curtains for the buck
David Hines
November 24, 2009

Two decades ago the Iron Curtain rapidly crumbled. The usual story is that Reagan's policies caused the Soviet Union to spend itself into bankruptcy. There . . .


Bluster's last stand
David Hines
October 22, 2009

The two kids at their lemonade stand were surprised one day when a big black car pulled up. They debated about whether it portended a lucrative customer or, . . .


The Phaeton effect
David Hines
September 23, 2009

Tales cautioning against hubris are common The Bible, for example, tells of the Tower of Babel. We moderns, of course, have grown beyond such warnings, and . . .


Unhealthy care
David Hines
August 23, 2009

Congress says they're talking about health care. Not so. All they're discussing is insurance. The issue before them is not medicine; it's merely paying for . . .


High seize piracy
David Hines
July 23, 2009

Some people think voters are bird-brains. I wish! No bird would be dumb enough to see a picture of food and mistake it for something edible. Even if a bird . . .


Export-import bunk
David Hines
June 24, 2009

A major US export is being threatened. When we can no longer export it, it will not be just a certain segment of workers who are affected, but all of us.  . . .


One flu over the cuckoo's nest
David Hines
May 21, 2009

Many are of the opinion that President Obama should seal us off from the swine flu. Well, maybe. As with anything else, actions have consequences. Native . . .


Print for prosperity
David Hines
April 24, 2009

Whenever you hear ordinary people discuss economic stimulus, someone is likely to suggest that rather than give money to corporations, each citizen should be . . .


Credit where it's due
David Hines
April 1, 2009

Credit's a good thing, isn't it? You get credit for doing good things. When your bank credits your account, you have more money. But to the bank, the credit . . .


Tilt!
David Hines
February 25, 2009

I grew up around pinball machines. My dad had some in his lunchroom. Today I see a lot of familiar behavior. There were the bingo machines, in which the . . .


Charge of the money brigade
David Hines
January 22, 2009

One would have thought that savvy advertisers would have changed the name of the cardigan sweater. The item became popular during Lord Cardigan's brief . . .


Quite a stretch
David Hines
December 23, 2008

To Athenians Theseus was a national hero. American voters would give him a more ambivalent assessment. Theseus would get credit for consolidating Attica . . .


The investor crass
David Hines
November 25, 2008

It's almost unanimous: voters agree that we are stupid, silly, and profligate. Roughly 98% of the electorate cast votes for candidates who said as much. The . . .


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