North Korea doesn’t just want the big fancy corner office. It wants to be called “Sir.” The Norks insisted today that the DPRK be recognized as a “nuclear weapons state” by the United States, a demand that was swiftly rejected: “North Korea’s demand to be recognized as a nuclear weapons state is neither realistic nor […]

“Confusion, total confusion.” That’s how a Michigan consumer advocate describes her state’s campaign to enroll citizens in the new Obamacare insurance plans. Mass uncertainty about the details of the ACA and a flurry of negative stories in the press have sent the law’s supporters scurrying across the country to educate the public before October 1, when open enrollment […]

Beijing apparently told Delhi today that Chinese soldiers had, in fact, not crossed the border between the two countries, contrary to widespread reports by Indian government sources and the international media that a contingent of Chinese soldiers and helicopters had ventured six miles into India and set up camp.“I want to reiterate here that the […]

Welcoming young scientists at the third White House Science Fair, President Obama announced his plan (initially proposed in his 2014 budget request) to drastically increase funding and support for STEM education initiatives. The New York Times reports:  According to a summary in his 2014 budget request, Mr. Obama has designated $180 million for programs to […]

Kurt Campbell, who served as the very able Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs during President Obama’s first term, is one of the strongest advocates in the US for the “pivot to Asia” and unapologetically asserts that with the failures of the EU and post-Soviet Russia to organize for the challenges of the […]

In 2011, traffic congestion cost the US $121 billion in lost time and wasted fuel. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of that congestion occurs during rush hour. Some back-of-the-envelope math tells us that bad traffic in our daily commutes costed the US economy approximately $76 billion in 2011. This is all according to the Texas A&M […]

Is there an Asian country with which China doesn’t have a territorial dispute? Or a neighbor that China doesn’t repeatedly poke in the eye?Today it’s India’s eye getting poked: Chinese troops reportedly ventured into Indian territory in Ladakh and set up camp six miles inside the border. Territorial violations like this one are common; neither country […]

Dr. Helen Smith highlights an explosive topic that few want to talk about openly: discrimination against male students on college campuses. As Dr. Helen notes, university policies on sexual misconduct, as well as societal bias, are putting many college men in the hot seat, but few seem to care: The discrimination will continue because there is […]

The Obama administration seems to be trying a new tactic in its negotiations with Iran: using Israel as a credible military threat without having to threaten Iran itself. That’s the official read on yesterday’s $10 billion weapons sale to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.The FT reports that the US describes the package “as a […]

American health care spending has significantly slowed down in recent months. Reuters: In the past week, medical testing companies, such as Quest Diagnostics, medical device makers Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories, hospital operators, such as HCA Holdings Inc, and even diaper maker Kimberly-Clark, which has a surgical supply unit, have cited a slowdown in use […]