I’ve been to the table, and I’ve lost it all beforeI’m willin’ and able, always comin’ back for more …If I’m bettin’ on a loser, I’m gonna have a devil to payBut it’s the only game I know to play, it doesn’t matter anyway—A Good Run of Bad Luck, Clint Black (1993) Luckbox is devoting this issue to gambling, … Continued
Success has rewarded Jeff Bezos. Twenty-seven years ago, he was a Wall Street refugee peddling books online with the help of a $250,000 loan from his parents. These days, he’s preparing to set sail in a 417-foot schooner that set him back $500 million. His company posted revenue of $368 billion last year, an increase … Continued
Amazon workers aren’t as concerned about the minimum wage as they are about brutal working conditions Amazon employs blatant union-busting tactics to keep harried workers from organizing at its giant fulfillment centers, according to observers of recent events at the company’s facilities in Bessemer, Alabama, and Staten Island, New York. The result? Despite what many … Continued
Author Danny Caine is raising Cain about the problems he says Amazon causes A lot of people complain about Amazon, but Danny Caine is doing something about it. Caine, a poet and the owner of The Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, is the author of the book How to Resist Amazon and Why. He … Continued
What investors need to know about the recently resurrected investment structure For decades, the Russian proverb “Trust, but verify” has guided the United States in its dealings with the Soviet Union and Iran. Today, the same principle applies to SPACs, the special-purpose acquisition companies formed to take private entities public. Investors hand over cash to … Continued
Luck? It’s all in your head. In his book The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck, author Christian Busch differentiates between what he calls blind luck and smart luck. Some people find themselves blessed with blind luck, like the good fortune of being born into a prosperous family. Others work to … Continued
Scientists debate whether extraterrestrials may have created a mysterious object visiting us from outside the solar system The world may someday remember 2017 as one of those years that changed everything—like 1492 or 1776. It’s the year astronomers detected a mysterious object tumbling through space and gave it the Hawaiian name “Oumuamua.” How big a deal … Continued
NASA’s former head scientist says humans may soon discover signs of life elsewhere in the solar system and eventually on exoplanets Six years ago, a noted scientist predicted researchers would find definitive proof of extraterrestrial life in the next 20 to 30 years. Does the projection still hold true? Maybe. Ellen Stofan, the John and Adrienne … Continued
The quest to conquer space and link up with whatever intelligent life might reside out there Humans have never wanted to feel alone in the universe. In ancient times, they looked to the heavens and imagined a realm teeming with magnificent but fallible gods. Later, they came to believe a single omnipotent god resided there … Continued
Luckbox leans in with Chris Langan, a man with an estimated IQ score of 200, who breeds horses, ponders the nature of the universe and would never be confused with a rare and delicate hothouse orchid Some consider Christopher Langan the smartest person in America, but others go even further. They call him the smartest … Continued