Last month’s warm reception to US diplomatic moves in Asia showed that US policy in the region resonates well with governments; a new poll from Japan indicates that in at least one important Asia country public opinion is also increasingly pro-US.According to the New York Times, a recent poll of Japanese citizens finds positive attitudes […]

There are many things American higher ed does very well, but providing job-related training at a reasonable price isn’t one of them.  The explosive growth of higher ed costs (driven by factors including administrative bloat and mission creep, government mandates, the guild system for faculty, and a fixation on the research university model) combined with […]

The news that Herman Cain is suspending his presidential campaign was no surprise by the time it was made; it had been clear for sometime that his presidential bid had been hit below the waterline.  One hopes that he and his family will have some peace and quiet in which to come to terms with […]

Another great week at Via Meadia. One of our biggest hits this week was “Weather, Not Climate“, which laments the quickness in which the world, led by green “hacktivists”, jumps to conclude that extreme weather equals climate change, while at the same time the absence of weather — in this case big hurricanes, which have […]

There is bad news out of Oklahoma this morning; as crowds surged onto the field following Oklahoma State’s victory over Oklahoma to tear down the goalposts, 13 people were reported injured, two critically.This is one of many unhappy stories related to college sports that we hear each year.  Serious football injuries, poor behavior by varsity […]

The fate of Detroit could be decided this month.  Long suffering Detroit could run out of cash completely by spring, and has an unresolved $200 million hole in its budget through June.  Under Michigan law, when the city’s bonds drop below the BBB level, the governor can appoint an emergency manager with broad powers to […]

In one of the Bush Administration’s most infamous moments, President Bush boarded an aircraft carrier under a giant “Mission Accomplished” banner just as the serious problems in Iraq were beginning to emerge. Eight years later, Vice President Biden has visited Iraq to deliver a much more subdued speech with the same message — America has […]

Over at the always interesting Small Wars Journal, Tony Corn has a stimulating piece on the implications of the European crisis for world politics.  He sees a clueless German policy establishment recklessly moving toward an unsustainable quest for power reminiscent in too many ways of problems Germany has had in its past.Germany, warns Corn, is […]

The Israeli government is worried about a trickle of Israeli citizens moving to the United States; in order to lure some of them back it began running ads on websites that Israeli expats in the US often visit.  Ads showed Israeli grandparents worried that their US-raised granddaughter thought Hanukkah was Christmas and so on.Once American […]

Secretary Clinton’s visit to Myanmar this week has been billed as a “significant shift in policy”, a “huge gamble”, and a “real opportunity” as the commentariat comes to grips with the latest twist in the new Great Game. True, it is the first visit of such a high-level American official since John Foster Dulles ran […]