What Websites Do You Read?
August 13, 2010 by Chip Wood
In response to hundreds of reader inquiries—well, at least three—I’m going to devote this week’s column to describing some of the other websites I read every week. If some in the list below are new to you, I hope you’ll check them out. You may find yet another “must read” columnist you’ll want to check out every week.
But we’re also going to practice equal time here. I encourage you to use the comments section at the end of this week’s Straight Talk to tell me about a writer or website you find especially worthwhile. After all, the more readers the good guys and gals get, the better for all of us.
So what do I read every week? Here are nearly a dozen columns and columnists I commend to your attention.
*Personal Liberty Digest. What did you expect? Of course I’m going to mention my own publisher first. After all, this is where you’ll find three of my efforts every week—Straight Talk and Chip Shots on Friday and This Week in History on Wednesday. But PLD publishes a bunch of other important stuff every week. I find the columns by Bob Livingston and John Myers especially worth reading. I like the book reviews and letters to Bob as well. If www.personalliberty.com is not already white-listed as one of your favorites you should do that now.
*Human Events does triple duty for me. The weekly newspaper is one of the oldest conservative publications in the country. It’s been produced continuously since 1944, and while it’s sometimes a tad too “Republican” for me, every issue has a story that the mainstream media have somehow missed.
But Human Events isn’t just a newsweekly. It is also home to several columnists, including two of my all-time favorites, Ann Coulter and Pat Buchanan. Pat’s knowledge of history and his powerful defense of Americanist values are simply unmatched. And nobody can skewer liberals faster or with more deadly accuracy than Coulter. I usually like what she says; but I often love how she says it.
Thank goodness she gave up a law practice for journalism. Find them (and many others, including Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Chuck Norris) at www.humanevents.com.
*The New American is both a twice-a-month publication and an invaluable website; both are jam-packed with articles and opinion pieces you simply won’t find anywhere else. The magazine was formed by the merger of two previous publications—American Opinion, where I once contributed several articles, and The Review of the News, where I was the original news editor. TNA is owned by the John Birch Society, so you can count on getting a hard-right interpretation of the major stories of the day. Check it out at www.thenewamerican.com.
*Gary Bauer’s “End of Day Report.” I have long suspected that Gary is triplets; otherwise I don’t understand how he accomplishes as much as he does. His commentary on the day’s events in Washington is, as his website says, “unapologetically pro-family, pro-life, and pro-growth.” It is also unmistakably pro-Israel and pro-Christian. No pabulum here, nothing but strong red meat. See for yourself at www.cwfpac.com.
*Best of the Web Today (The Wall Street Journal Online). Nobody can accuse James Taranto of being unbiased. There isn’t a liberal politician or pundit he doesn’t delight in exposing. And I’ve got to tell you, he does it a lot better than most. He does it in depth, on several topics, nearly every day of the week. Unfortunately, this one is not a freebie—you have to be a subscriber to the online version of The Wall Street Journal to get it. But The Journal publishes so much other worthwhile material (including Peggy Noonan every Saturday) that I recommend signing up. Go to www.online.wsj.com and see if you don’t agree.
Politics isn’t all I read about, of course. In fact, my literary consumption these days is pretty evenly divided between politics, economics and history—with the occasional mystery story thrown in. So now let’s shift from the political battlegrounds to the economic ones. Here are some of my favorite financial websites.
*The Daily Reckoning was started by my friend Bill Bonner—the founder and president of Agora Publications—a dozen years ago, when he decided to “figure out this Internet thing.” What began as a daily commentary sent to a few friends over the Internet has grown into a publishing phenomenon, with a large stable of contributors—so many, in fact, that the daily ezine can’t hold them all. Nobody tells “truth to power” better than Bill. See for yourself at www.dailyreckoning.com.
*John Mauldin and Gary Halbert are two other friends who write a column every week about some truly important issues. John concentrates more on the economic side of the ledger (and often gives you more charts in one issue than I want to see in a month). But for those who like really thoughtful—and thought-provoking—economic analysis, go to www.investorsinsight.com and read a couple of his articles. Chances are you’ll be back for more.
While you’re at the Investors Insight website, do yourself a favor and read Gary Halbert’s latest essay. I particularly like the way Gary takes one major subject each week and really gnaws on it for a while. I have found his research to be impeccable, his analysis sound, and his conclusions sometimes frightening but always thoughtful. He is definitely another “worth your time” writer.
*Daily Wealth gives more genuinely valuable contrarian investment advice than any other website I know of. And they do it for free (if you don’t count all the ads you’ll receive) six times a week. I’ve known many of their columnists for years and consider them personal friends. But friendship aside, let me assure you, you could do a lot worse than to listen to Steve Sjuggerud, Tom Dyson and Daily Wealth’s other contributors. You’ll find them at www.dailywealth.com.
So there you have it—almost a dozen columnists and commentators who are on my “must read” list every week. Of course there are many other writers whose work I enjoy and many other websites I use in my research. But these are the ladies and gentlemen I would read every week, whether I had a column to write or not.
So please give them a look; you just might like them. And not only like them, but learn from them as well.
Now, I look forward to learning from you.
Until next time, keep some powder dry.
—Chip Wood
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