The usual grumblings attend the day on which we commemorate the most famous illegal immigrant in the history of the Americas, an undocumented wanderer from Spain who brought plagues, fire and the sword from the Old World to the New.Columbus Day is our most confused holiday celebration, one in which the public understanding of the […]

The next day or two could see some light posting on the site; the Mead clan and its affiliates and allies are gathering in Virginia to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of the Venerable Mead and the Grand Matriarch.  Their descendants (including the first of what looks to be a great host of great-grandchildren) are […]

There is a flaming contradiction at the heart of President Obama’s Afghan war policy that threatens his strategy for safe withdrawal; the latest news from Pakistan suggests that the President now recognizes that something basic has to change.Many readers find their eyes glazing over when it comes to yet more bad news from Pakistan, the […]

Youth unemployment in Europe and the US; child labor in Asia, Africa and Latin America.We live in a crazy world.Global slowdowns reduce employment for adults, but they can open “opportunities” for cheaper child labor.  And in hard economic times, many poor parents need the income their kids can bring in — and don’t have the […]

For the past year, the debt crisis has monopolized Europe’s attention to the extent that many forgot the EU did anything besides argue about debt levels. Apparently many in Europe feel the same way, as efforts to bolster its relationships along its Eastern periphery — once a central focus of EU policy — have been […]

It’s not often you hear loud and public support for Jews in Arab newspapers, which is why Egyptian journalist Sharif ‘Abd Al-Ghani’s recent article in a Qatari paper is cause for celebration. Al-Ghani attacks Muslim preachers for their hateful language toward Jews. How, he asks, can preachers lead hateful discussion of Jews, yet venerate Moses? […]

Steve Jobs was one of the great innovators of our time, yet he never finished college. For Jobs, dropping out taught him more than staying in school ever could. For some people, that’s just the way it goes. As he told Stanford students in a 2005 commencement speech, Your time is limited, so don’t waste […]

It is said that there is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than ninety-nine who never go astray. Heaven must be celebrating the events in the country formerly known as Burma, which could one day become the country formerly known as Myanmar. As the New York Times reports: The thawing, while in its […]

Time to pop the champagne? The return of manufacturing jobs from China to the US could generate as many as three million new jobs in the US by 2020, according to a new study by the well-regarded Boston Consulting Group. As a result of rising labor costs in China, manufacturing jobs are coming back to […]

Britain has had four serious prime ministers since World War Two: Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill (great even in decline), Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.  They were right about some things and wrong about others, but they each made a big difference in Britain and in the wider world.  The current tenant at Number 10 Downing […]