A new Gallup poll confirms what we already suspected at Via Meadia: despite incessant insinuations in the MSM that life among the Latter Day Saints could be anything other than a hell on earth, Mormon Utah is the most pleasant state in the union to live in. More than half a million Americans were asked […]

Gu Kailai, wife of the purged Bo Xilai, is expected to go on trial on Thursday for the murder of British businessman and family fixer Neil Heywood. Bo was the former party secretary (effectively the mayor) of Chongqing, where Heywood was found poisoned in a hotel room last November.The scandal has shaken the Communist Party […]

After 16 Egyptian security officers were killed Sunday at a border checkpoint, the Muslim Brotherhood didn’t hesitate to point its finger at Israel. From the BBC: A statement on the Muslim Brotherhood’s website said the incident “can be attributed to the Mossad”.It said Israel had carried out the attack in an attempt to undermine the government […]

ECB chief Mario Draghi’s last-minute euro rescue plan lies in shambles and Italian PM Mario Monti warns of the “psychological dissolution of Europe.” Now the Economist is reporting that Greece is far behind on its committments to international investors and may not implement all of the promised reforms for years, or even decades: Greece has performed badly on many measures. […]

The European Central Bank is about to lose another one of its shaky potential rescue ladders. The Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO), Europe’s  equivalent of the American TARP, appears to hemorrhaging money as European banks run out of quality items to pawn to the ECB.The Financial Times reports: Last month, for example, Ray Dalio, head of Bridgewater Capital, […]

Not content with being a thorn in the side of China’s suspicious neighbors in Vietnam and the Philippines, Chinese fishermen are starting to annoy China’s close friends as well, Reuters reports: Sri Lanka’s navy said on Monday it was still holding 37 Chinese fishermen to appear in court on charges of fishing within its waters, contradicting […]

Standard Chartered’s Group Executive Director, according to reports, when confronted about his bank’s Iran dealings, said: “You [expletive] Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we’re not going to deal with Iranians.”More on the story: New York State’s financial watchdog has accused Standard Chartered of hiding $250bn of transactions with the Iranian […]

Last year, the Supreme Court made waves when it ordered California to release tens of thousands of inmates from its overcrowded prisons on the grounds that the cash-strapped state was keeping them locked up under inhumane conditions. The Supreme Court order has forced California to repurpose county jails—which are intended for short stays, often by people […]

Last week, when we noted that the new head of Pakistan’s ISI had come to Washington for negotiations, we suggested that for all sorts of reasons, Pakistan needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs Pakistan. And while nothing in this relationship is ever settled for good, some dare to hope that U.S. pressure on Pakistan […]

For policymakers, the main appeal of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) is that by keeping pilots and ground crews far from harm’s way, they dramatically reduce the political risks and costs of conducting military operations. That explains why the Obama administration is relying on drones to play the lead role in what used to be […]