The epidemic of power outages and “rolling blackouts” which nearly shut down California in the early 2000s may be returning. Back then, the culprits were unscrupulous energy providers like Enron and a poorly-thought out process of deregulation. This time, renewable energy would be to blame, as the state has pushed to increase the use of […]

South Carolina has an innovation it hopes will cut health care costs, improve care delivery, and strengthen community ties all at once. According to the San Franciso Chronicle, the state’s Medicaid office has launched a program to train key community leaders to make health visits to elderly, poor, and disabled patients at home. The vistors will help […]

In the February 24th Washington Post, in accompaniment to an article by Karen DeYoung and Elizabeth Sly entitled “In Syria, new influx of weapons to rebels tilts the battle against Assad”, there appeared a genuinely hilarious map. I laughed so hard I nearly dropped my morning bagel.Knowing a little bit about how newspapers operate, I […]

Just a day after Mexico’s new President Enrique Peña Nieto passed historic education reform, weakening the powerful and hitherto unaccountable teachers union, the union’s influential boss was arrested on charges of embezzlement. The arrest has been called a daring assertion of presidential power, reports the FT:  “This is a very bold move,” said Alejandro Hope, […]

For years, India’s main security problem was in the west. Pakistan, Pakistan, Pakistan—the troublesome neighbor consumed the attention of policy-makers in Delhi. But with the rise of China and Southeast Asia, things are changing. Events like last December’s epic Indonesia-to-India, 8,000-kilometer car rally suggest a new outlook in Delhi—conveniently termed its “Look East” policy.The epic […]

As President Obama prepares for his first visit to the Middle East in his second term, the region is getting if anything a little more tense. A rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel yesterday for the first time since the November truce. The WSJ reports: Militants claiming affiliation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, […]

The surprising announcement by Benedict XVI that he will retire from the papacy in a few weeks’ time has naturally led to a flurry of media attention on the challenges facing the Roman Catholic Church (for once, mercifully, with a broader focus than the scandal of pedophile priests and their protective superiors). On February 15, […]

Angela Merkel is now 0 for 2 in trying to influence the outcome of elections in important Latin countries in Europe. In both France and Italy, voters solidly rejected the candidates she supported and gave their votes to candidates she opposed. And this could just be the beginning, the New York Times speculates: But experts said the […]

Texas has been cleaning up in state rankings of job growth and business-friendliness, but it isn’t alone. In an excellent new piece in the Wall Street Journal, Joel Kotkin profiles the four “red growth corridors” of the South and West that are quickly outpacing the rest of the country in job creation, economic growth, and […]

There’s a lot of talk these days that the GOP has lost American Hispanics “forever.” A recent poll by Gallup suggests the picture may be a litte more complex. After the November Presidential election, some Dems hoped and Gopers fretted that the Republican Party face imminent death unless it attracted more Hispanic voters by changing it’s immigration position. But […]