It’s been a light blogging Christmas week here at Via Meadia.  The staff has deserted the sinking holiday ship, skiing in Switzerland in at least one case.  But the Mead clan has also been absorbing a lot of the attention that in quieter times of the year goes to the blog.  During the last few […]

For some readers, this Megan McArdle post at The Atlantic is the most important thing you will read all year.  Her subject is savings, and why you need to save much more than you are currently socking away.Most older readers haven’t saved enough; most younger readers will need to save more (as government retirement programs […]

Five go-old rings!Happy fifth day of Christmas, and welcome back to the 2011 Yule Blog, where we aim to keep the holiday fires burning right up through Twelfth Night on January 6.Yesterday King Herod’s massacre of every child in Bethlehem under the age of two shocked us out of the idea that Christmas is basically a […]

As the heavily staged mourning for the “Dear Leader” grinds on, it’s worth noting that former US President Jimmy Carter has reportedly sent his personal condolences to North Korea upon the death of the old dictator and wished his son and successor Kim Jong-Un “every success” in the future. According to the Washington Times: A […]

Rising concern about China’s foreign policy plans continues to reshape the political geometry in Asia.  Japan’s announcement that it is reducing limits on arms exports is yet another sign that Japan is moving toward a more assertive regional role in closer cooperation with the US.Japan has been steadily if cautiously raising its defense and political […]

In the theater of the absurd that is Pakistani politics, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has denied published reports that he was threatening to fire the heads of Pakistani’s military and of the ISI.  As the NY Times solemnly reports, Gilani announced that rumors of a split between civilian and military leaders in Pakistan were […]

We are taking a brief break with posts this week. I’d like to wish all my readers all the best for this holiday season and in the new year. Regular posting will resume next week.

So: they ‘wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.’  What is that supposed to be about?Manger is the French word meaning “to eat”; a manger is a place where you put hay and similar things for the animals in a barn to eat. The swaddling clothes were used to wrap up […]

Combined intervention by the world’s central banks and an open door policy by the ECB to European banks wanting to borrow lots of money fast calmed the world’s markets this month.  We are no longer having to think about whether the international financial system might melt down over a long weekend, and the relief plus […]

Just three weeks ago, Via Meadia lamented the appointment of a South African crony as the head of the anti-corruption agency called the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). William Heath was part of now-President Zuma’s advisory team when he himself battled accusations of corruption over a huge arms deal, and Heath’s appointment to the SIU raised concerns […]