Just as they were for the Irish and Italian immigrants of the early twentieth century, government jobs have been an important ladder to the middle class for generations of Black Americans. As one of the largest and most venerable public-sector programs, the Postal Service has long been one of the largest and most effective of […]

While the economic crisis has already reshaped the lives of generations of Americans,  it’s most lasting legacy may be the acceleration in the decline of the shaky and ossified Blue Social Model. Our recent economic troubles forced state and local governments to make tough decisions now that would otherwise have been kicked into the future. […]

Some years ago a sizable number of American Evangelicals, perhaps in search of a more colorful version of Christianity, became Eastern Orthodox as a group. For some reason they chose to join the American branch of the Patriarchate of Antioch, one of the most ancient Christian bodies in the world. (Its liturgical language is traditionally […]

Alert reader Dan Shea drew Via Meadia‘s attention to an unusually depressing article in the Boston Globe.  It is one of those fluffy and airheaded “lifestyle” pieces, the print equivalent of empty calorie junk food and like many such articles it provides a horrifying glimpse into the vacuous nature of the modern American mind.  In […]

Crushing debt is prompting Europe to look to an unlikely source for wisdom and inspiration: an American Founding Father.

By jailing a popular opposition leader, Vladamir Putin risks enflaming protests that have already begun to accuse him of rigging last weekend’s vote. Here’s the story from the New Yorker: The problem for Putin’s government is that, unlike the other two hundred and ninety-nine or so people arrested, Navalny is as close to a real […]

Remember when India and Afghanistan agreed to cooperate on security matters? The first concrete plans under that arrangement are appearing: India is looking forward to training thousands of Afghan National Army officers and enlisted men. Here’s the story from The Diplomat: Under the agreement, India, which has the world’s third-largest army, agreed to train, equip […]

Remember those dynamic, world beating BRICs?  Russia, China and India have all stumbled recently; now comes Brazil.  From FT comes this story on Brazil’s slowed growth: Gross domestic product was unchanged in the three months ended September 30, from the previous quarter, as weakness in the industrial sector spread to Brazil’s once vibrant consumer… For Brazil, […]

Israel and the United States have been saying for years that “all options are on the table” when it comes to the Iranian nuclear program.  Lately the UK has been singing from the same hymnbook and the French have also been heard humming a few bars.But Germany is another story.  Germany refused to support the […]

Congo’s elections were not a good idea. Reports out of Kinshasa, the capital, suggest that those Congolese with enough spare money are getting out of the city, expecting violence. Airlines are canceling flights into the city, stores are emptying of food and supplies, cell phone service has been shut down, and eighteen people have been […]