University of California students, rejoice: your tuition will not be going up this year. President Janet Napolitano announced to the system’s Board of Regents yesterday that she intends to continue the university’s tuition freeze for a third straight year. Given that this freeze began after three years in which tuition rose by more than 15 […]

With the current crop of Via Meadia interns moving on, we’re looking for the next batch of ambitious young people to help us research and write for the site. Former interns have gone on to jobs in journalism, tech startups, the State Department and the US military, and have gotten their own clips at The American Interest and at […]

Ahead of tentative international talks in Geneva to resolve the Syrian conflict, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has announced that his troops will remain in Syria indefinitely. Giving a rare in-person speech to supporters in Beirut, the Iranian client and Assad confederate promised that Hezbollah will fight in Syria until the Alawite regime is restored to […]

We’re so focused on bad health care reform at the moment that we may be overlooking the positive possibilities right in front of us. At the American Prospect, Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux rehearses many of the benefits of giving nurse practitioners greater independence: they can provide the same level of primary care as a physician but at a […]

Misinformation can be deadly. We have the technology to genetically modify crops to be resistant to pestilence and drought, but atavistic fears over the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the emotional rejection of “frankenfoods” are starving the world’s poor. Nowhere is this sad drama—pitting ignorance about the technology against the need to feed […]

In case the highest-in-the-nation rents and exorbitant taxes weren’t enough, New York residents are also paying more for utilities than anyone in the country. Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) which supplies electricity to New York City, charges 25.65 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, which is more than double the national average, the Wall Street Journal reports. Yet […]

President Obama is facing some stiff opposition from members of his own party over the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement currently being negotiated. Reuters: In a letter to President Barack Obama, 151 House Democrats said there had not been enough consultation between the administration and Congress over the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP pact.“Given our concerns, we will […]

It’s not just Japan that’s investing in its military. With the delivery of a Russian-made aircraft carrier only days away, the Indian navy gave an ambitious account of its future, promising the addition of 200 warships, including three more aircraft carriers, within the next 10 years. The Times of India reports: Right now, we have 136 ships […]

Japanese policy-makers are finalizing the budget for a futuristic military technology research center, modeled on the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a target of conspiracy theorists and wacky sci-fi aficionados for decades. Reuters reports: Japan’s Cabinet Office, which will oversee the program, is negotiating with the Finance Ministry on the scale of the funding, […]

 Some six weeks have passed since I wrote in this space on Middle Eastern matters. Forgive me, for I have not sinned. I have instead occupied myself with writing elsewhere, traveling both domestically and abroad, editing the January/February issue of The American Interest (which you will not want to miss), collecting native American persimmons and […]