The further the Eurozone sinks, the bigger the abyss between Germany and France. Relations between the continent’s two biggest economies won’t get any better today, as the Eurozone is expected to contract for the second straight year. The WSJ: The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, forecasts a 0.3% contraction for 2013 and sees falling […]

Japan’s hotheaded new Prime Minister has turned up the heat in Asia another couple notches. Just before leaving Japan to meet Obama in Washington, Abe gave China a serious tongue-lashing.In an interview with the Washington Post, he accused China of having a “deeply ingrained” need to confront Japan over disputed territory. Abe believes that ongoing […]

“Two years ago they were writing our obituary. Well, it didn’t happen. California is back.” So said Gov. Jerry Brown in his State of the State address last month.Despite 9.8 percent unemployment and a mass exodus of businesses to friendlier states, many in the media have been reporting a recovery for California. The WaPo is the […]

Earlier this week, two leading conservative scholars may have come up with the first serious Republican health care proposal we’ve seen in years. Writing on the Reuters  “Great Debate” blog, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Avik Roy argue that conservatives should welcome the opportunity Obamacare presents to construct a truly market-based health care system: The great irony of Obama’s […]

In a conference on Wednesday, the Obama administration unveiled a new strategy to combat the theft of U.S. trade secrets. The plan includes placing “sustained and coordinated diplomatic pressure” on offending countries like China and Russia, and the use of “trade policy tools” to protect U.S. companies.This news comes during a week in which China has […]

3Doodler, billed as “the world’s first and only 3D printing pen,” has received an extraordinary infusion of investments on the crowd-sourced funding platform Kickstarter: 3Doodler is the world’s first and only 3D Printing Pen. Using ABS plastic (the material used by many 3D printers), 3Doodler draws in the air or on surfaces. It’s compact and […]

For the first time in nearly 70 years, the GED is going to have some real competition. McGraw-Hill and Educational Testing Services are both rolling out new tests to fill the adult testing niche currently occupied by the GED, and they’re already getting some traction: New York State, among others, is planning to switch from the GED […]

Estonia just opened the world’s first national electric vehicle fast-charge network, and its success or failure could impact the future of electric vehicles globally. Estonian World: The network, consisting of 165 fast chargers, was officially opened for use today; a single operator is responsible for the administration of all stations and the clients can use the […]

A commander of the Free Syrian Army issued an ultimatum to Hezbollah yesterday, threatening to attack its positions inside Lebanon if it did not cease its operations in Syria. Hezbollah supports the Assad regime, and its fighters have consistently participated in attacks on the Syrian rebels. It even controls a number of villages on the […]

A well organized group of powerful interests in Russia shipped $50 billion of the state’s revenues abroad in 2012, according to the widely respected and straight-shooting head of Russia’s central bank. The disclosure is another indicator of the rampant corruption in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Reuters has the story: “You get the impression that they are all […]