The government of (north) Sudan is waging terrible war in South Kordofan. Rebels there aspire to independence like their neighbors in South Sudan, the world’s newest country. Khartoum doesn’t intend to make the same mistake twice.The NYT‘s Nicholas Kristof returned from South Kordofan this weekend. His report paints a dire and tragic picture. “They said […]

For years, slaves brought from Indonesia under deceptive labor contracts have been beaten, raped and abused on fishing ships operating in New Zealand waters. Some have died. New Zealand officials have witnessed brutal attacks and inhuman exploitation, but many chose to remain silent.  It wasn’t their job.They were there to protect the fish.Meanwhile, the slave-caught […]

As blizzards sweep across Hell, words come of something really surprising: The New York Times is agreeing with Charles Murray—at least on some things.Two recent stories examine the death of marriage among lower income whites as well as many minorities, and the writers appear to accept the idea that children benefit from stable, two parent […]

Once the darling of the greens, wind turbines are spinning up a storm. Over in England, Sir Simon Jenkins, the chairman of the National Trust, which oversees millions of acres of protected land in the UK, came out strongly against wind energy recently, calling wind energy the least efficient form of renewable energy, and said his […]

America’s economic structure, the labor market and the American workplace have changed greatly in the last twenty years and will likely change even more in the twenty years to come. Some of these changes are unpredictable; others look baked into the cake. But as the blue social model continues to fade, the question of jobs […]

Although we are eager and ready for financial recovery here at Via Meadia and prefer to spend our time looking for four leaf clovers rather than black cats, Nouriel Roubini, the Cassandra of global markets, has made his latest prophecy, and it doesn’t bode well for world outlook. In his most recent bearish note, Roubini […]

Christopher Mead has a piece up over at New Geography that looks at the role of local chambers of commerce in the progressive era. At the birth of the blue social model, much of the impetus for key progressive reforms came from these associations of mostly local, mostly small businesses.  This comes from research he […]

When U.S. and coalition forces ejected Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait in 1991, a new American era of military power projection began. During the Cold War, America’s military became an increasingly static force, forward based around the world to deter warfare, dampen regional security competitions and contain Soviet expansion. With the collapse of the Soviet […]

The story of the week was Chinese Vice President Xi’s visit to the United States. As this next round of the Asian Game of Thrones got seriously underway, Via Meadia had ringside seats in Washington and sketched out some important takeaways from what we observed. We also noted signs of concerted push-back from China against […]

It’s always fun when new statistical research confirms something Via Meadia already believes. We’ve written earlier about the wave of poor and ignorant atheists pollsters say is sweeping America. Now come the latest Gallup findings on wellbeing, which report that religious Americans are happy Americans: Very religious Americans of all major faiths have higher overall […]