A few years ago Lynne Truss published a book called Talk to the Hand. Coming on the heels of her smash hit, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, this book was intended as an educated rant about the appalling rudeness of contemporary Western cultures. In the course of her rant she necessarily struggled with the reasons for […]

From the AP: China flexed some maritime muscle Friday in its dispute with Japan over a chain of uninhabited islands, holding naval exercises in the East China Sea to demonstrate its ability to enforce offshore territorial claims. . . .Friday’s exercise involved 11 vessels from the East China Sea fleet and the civilian marine surveillance […]

Starbucks may be scaling back its empire in the United States, but overseas it’s expanding into a new market: India. On Friday the company opened a store in Mumbai, its first in the country. The store is a joint venture with Indian conglomerate Tata and will soon be joined by more, according to the Associated Press: The company […]

It’s really happening now: the war in Syria is spilling over into Lebanon. A massive car bomb exploded in the Christian neighborhood of Ashrafieh in Beirut, killing Lebanese senior intelligence official Wissam Al-Hassan and seven others and wounding about 80. The New York Times: The security official, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, was apparently the intended […]

It’s now been nearly a year since the NATO’s Libya mission was completed, but the afterparty is still dragging on in nearby countries. This week, the FT reported that France is growing particularly concerned with the growth of al-Qaeda groups in northern Mali, where Islamic militants have established a firm foothold in the region: For years, al-Qaeda […]

by John EllisMitt Romney should enjoy his seven-point lead in the Gallup tracking poll. It isn’t likely to last. The next debate focuses on foreign policy and national security issues. Regardless of what you think of the president’s policies in this arena, he is fluent in the subject matter. Mr. Romney, demonstrably, is not. So […]

Echoes of the Scopes Monkey Trial in the North Star State? Minnesota’s bureaucrats are trying to make teaching illegal in the state—online teaching, anyway.Via the Chronicle of Higher Education, we see that the Stanford-based Coursera is putting a special warning in its terms of service for Minnesota residents: Coursera has been informed by the Minnesota Office […]

Reuters reports: In a rare challenge to Pakistan’s powerful generals, the country’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the military should stop interfering in politics.. . . Chief Supreme Court Judge Iftikhar Chaudhry said military intelligence agencies must stay away from politics.“Such organizations have no role to play in the political activities/politics, for formulation or […]

The European Union is the world’s most dysfunctional policy-making body, and environmentalists are the world’s most dysfunctional policy lobby. Put the two together, and watch the fun begin. Like a string of firecrackers, Europe has been watching one green fiasco explode after another.The latest: a “solution” to the biofuel scandal which began in 2008, when […]

Since winning election in 2002, one of the AK Party’s long-standing goals has been to replace the current constitution, which was put in place after a military junta in the early 1980s. The new constitution is supposed to ensure stronger individual rights for all citizens, including freedom of religion and a right to education in […]