In much of Egypt, Islamists are dominating the streets as liberal protests fade away. Half the country is voting today in the second part of the referendum on Islamist President Morsi’s draft constitution today. Rival protestors are still clashing in cities like Alexandria, but the Islamists feel victory is heading their way.The constitution won 57 […]

Season’s greetings to all; on this Friday before Christmas the mighty machine that is Via Meadia shifts into holiday gear. Between today and New Year’s Day we’ll be dividing our attention between the blog and our friends and families at this special time of year. That doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten our duties here; besides fresh […]

That’s our best explanation for this surprising fare from China’s state-run television network: Television audiences across China watched an anarchist antihero rebel against a totalitarian government and persuade the people to rule themselves. Soon the Internet was crackling with quotes of “V for Vendetta’s” famous line: “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments […]

American cities are about to run into some serious financial trouble. Athough President Obama and John Boehner still have strike a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, investors are already betting that new taxes on municipal bonds are on the way. The Wall Street Journal has more: Investors pulled $2.3 billion out of muni-bond funds […]

Earlier this week, the redoubtable blogger and world’s greatest (living) zombie specialist Dan Drezner put on his language cop hat and took issue with our use of the ‘bubble’ word as a signifier for our continuing coverage of one piece of the higher ed story: Here’s the FT definition of an asset bubble: When the prices […]

It’s been one week since the horrific shootings in Newtown. Many questions linger—about the gunman’s mental illness, about his mother’s responsibilities, and, of course, about guns.The U.S. unfortunately has seen many tragedies like the school shooting in Connecticut. And after these horrific tragedies there is usually a great national outcry about gun control. And then, […]

So, I am given to understand that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B‘nai B‘rith, which more or less boils down to its national director Abe Foxman’s personal view of the planet from his Manhattan bubble, is not thrilled with the prospective (not even real yet) nomination of Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. According […]

When violent acts are committed by extremists in Pakistan who claim the mantle of Islam, people in the west sometimes ask, “Where are the moderates? Who is condemning these outrages?” Sometimes, whether because of conviction, political calculation or fear, those voices stay silent.But in Pakistan today they are being heard loud and clear, and are […]

Turkey’s Islamist government started life planning to spread peace and security around the Middle East. With war in Syria and tensions building with Iran, that ambition isn’t looking so good. And now the Turks are discovering that the peace of their own country isn’t that secure; the long sputtering Kurdish revolt is back with a […]

Just what the world needs: another heroic statue of Joe Stalin. The New York Times yesterday reported that the Municipal Assembly in Stalin’s Georgian hometown of Gori has just allocated $15,000 to restore a massive statue of the dear leader that had been taken down in 2010.Nobody likes a good Stalin museum more than we […]