A commentary by Yu Zhixiao on the state-run Xinhuanet.com gives some insight into China’s reaction to the newly assertive US posture in the Pacific.As regular readers of this blog know, last fall saw the US roll out one move after another in a grand Pacific strategy aimed at deterring China from seeking regional hegemony.  The […]

With shale gas and “fracking” shaping up to be the hot environmental issue of the year, the airwaves have been awash with a breathtaking number of scientific reports claiming either to link the practice to any number of environmental catastrophes or absolve it of responsibility for any of them. In the New York Times‘ Dot […]

To usher in the new year, Via Meadia posted ten useful tips on How to get Smart in 2012, and one more in The Most Useful Hangover Cure of All. We rounded out the week with the last five installments of the traditional Yule Blog.Middle Eastern tensions dominated the news this week, especially in Iran. […]

Via Meadia has reported extensively the past few days about the deteriorating situation in Iran. The government has been racked by economic problems, escalating sanctions and its unpopularity with its own citizens. This is bad news for Iranians, but it may be worse news for Iraq, which is still adjusting to last month’s withdrawal of […]

Daniel Patrick Moynihan once quipped that “if the newspapers of a country are filled with good news, the jails of that country will be filled with good people.” When a government begins prosecuting and imprisoning members of the press on dubious charges, in other words, it is time to worry. Which is why this New […]

Libya may be in a better place without Muammar Gaddafi, but the country is certainly not out of the woods quite yet. Nobody expected a functioning government by now, but the liberal interventionists who supported the war were hoping for something better than what we now have.The Washington Post reports that factional violence between rival […]

If you want to know what it feels like to be Greek or Italian right now, you might consider moving to Detroit. Elected governments in both Greece and Italy were forced to step aside under EU pressure to put ‘technocrats’ in power.  The same fate could be in store for the Motor City soon — […]

Iran is looking increasingly desperate as sanctions begin to bite. As we saw yesterday, public opinion in Iran does not seem to be rallying behind its unpopular government as the economic storm intensifies. Over the past few months the level of Iranian activity and bluster has risen even as its economy slid downhill.  Sanctions are […]

Laws and regulations sometimes seem to accumulate like the knick-knacks in your grandparents’ attic. Years out, it is hard to remember why or when any of them were purchased. That’s the case in the UK as well as here, but on the other side of the pond, David Cameron has promised to do something about […]

In a shocking abuse of civil rights, a college newspaper adviser may have been fired for publishing explicit photos of a streaker at a football game. This brave soul is fighting back, and now considering a lawsuit against the university on first-amendment grounds. From Jimromensko.com [link NSFW] comes the fired adviser’s Patrick Henry like defense […]