A bemusing altercation occurred between the offices of the Russian and German heads of state yesterday when Putin and Merkel first canceled, then rescheduled speeches at the opening of an art exhibition at St Petersburg’s historic Hermitage museum. It emerged that Merkel intended to use her speech to claim that some of the art in the exhibition was […]

When the US Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that the overcrowding and unsafe conditions in the California prison system amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, we labeled California a failed state, noting that when a state produces more prisoners than it can afford to house, it has failed at nearly all the things we ordinarily expect of […]

Republican politicians across the country are agitating for prison reform, according to a piece in the WSJ. Faced with overcrowded prisons, pressure from Evangelical Christians, and data pointing to the vicious crime cycles prisons encourage, GOP leaders are taking up reforms aimed at reducing the length of sentences and promoting rehabilitation: Just over half of the states […]

Now that California’s legislators have successfully pushed through tax increases and put the state budget back in the black, they deserve a bonus, don’t they? At least, that’s what an independent commission thinks, which has approved a 5.3 percent pay raise and a 10 percent increase in health care contributions for California state politicians (who, by […]

Headline coverage of the recently concluded G8 summit largely missed one of the more promising developments: the world’s biggest economic powers pledged to combat tax dodgers and the culture of hiding wealth offshore and underground, away from the taxman. The Economist has the story: On June 19th Swiss lawmakers voted down a bill that would […]

The Sunni-Shiite civil war is revving up to dangerous speeds. “Saudi Arabia expressly will not allow Iran to win in Syria,” wrote Jamal Khashoggi earlier this week at Al-Arabiya (h/t Michael Weiss over at NOW). Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who is considered close to Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Director General of Saudi intelligence, is pretty well plugged in. […]

Catholic schools have fallen on hard times. In the past ten years, enrollment has fallen by 22 percent, and in New York City alone the Archdiocese has closed 56 schools since 2011, leaving only 219 remaining. This long-term decline has many worried: Justice Sonia Sotomayor and other Catholic school alumni lament the fading of a system […]

Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have both agreed to reverse the bus fare increases that sparked demonstrations and rioting across Brazil, but so far this has done nothing to quell the protests. The WSJ reports that hundreds of thousands of protesters hit the streets despite the apparent political victory. No one should be surprised […]

What’s a Hezbollah operative got to do to get some attention around here?Britain tried this week to get the European Union to label the “Party of God” a terrorist organization, but Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, and others demurred. Previously reluctant countries like France and Germany finally hopped on board, but because the vote needs […]

Big news this morning: the FT is reporting that Germany has blocked resumption of Turkish accession talks into the EU. Turkish envoy Egemen Bagis responded angrily: “The EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU. If we have to, we could tell them ‘Get lost’.” Though some still some hope things can be stitched up, this could […]