For your Sunday reading, a roundup of recent stories on religious persecution and violence.  This is not a complete or necessarily a representative list, and since many of these events take place in remote locations or have not been covered by mainstream news organizations, it is not always possible to vouch for the accuracy of […]

India’s Karnataka province is the site of renewed radical-Hindu led pogroms against local Christians with worries that worse is to come. A recent string of attacks against Christian pastors, church services, homes and three orphanages resembles the violence that racked the province of Orissa three years ago.Asia News reports on the latest incident of persecution: […]

At Via Meadia, we are trying to provide readers with information and analysis that helps them understand the major forces driving world history.  Religion is one of the most powerful forces in our world for good and for ill and chaotic and tumultuous periods of world history like the one we live in today often […]

If you have paid any attention to the mainstream media over the past decade, you have surely noticed its fixation on the rapid economic growth that has taken place in much of the developing world. Understandably so: economic progress in these countries — as well as the consequent social, cultural, political, and, yes, even environmental dislocations […]

Hurricane Irene made its second landfall near Little Egg Inlet, N.J. around 5:35 a.m. That means New Yorkers woke up to howling winds and pounding rain,reported the NPR news blog this morning.Perhaps some New Yorkers woke up to that; in Queens the winds would be better described as breezy gusting to brisk.  The rain is […]

I’ve written in the past about President Obama’s uncanny ability to find the sour spot on any issue, from the peace process, to Afghanistan to the debt ceiling. He is now in danger of finding the same spot on race. The Washington Post reports that in the wake of increased criticism of the president, the […]

Singapore is a small city state in a region of emerging superpowers, its presidency is a mostly powerless post, and the winning candidate represents the party that has ruled Singapore without interruption since independence.Yet Tony Tan’s election as President of Singapore is news.In a four way race, Tan received 35 percent of the votes cast.  […]

In this part of the city, Hurricane Irene has been a bit of a bust — so far.  It has been raining hard and the winds are beginning to pick up but, thankfully, the hurricane has felt more like a conventional northeaster than some kind of über storm from the tropics.We shall see; the next […]

Although Assad’s control of Damascus is clearly under stress, the Syrian government continues to hold the line against efforts by protesters to overwhelm regime forces in the capital.  With pro-Assad crowds demonstrating that some remain supportive of the regime, and the security forces holding firm, the Assad dictatorship’s regime remains resilient and strong.On the international […]

The technocratic imagination believes in a division of labor.  Scientists determine the facts through objective research.  Administrators and experts, who understand the science, then develop rational policy based on it.  End of story.Not in the real world, where both science and policy struggle to give meaningful answers to even the smallest of problems.  Circumcision, for […]