In France, the socialists have won: nobody seems very happy this Christmas. Champagne sales are down, France’s top actor and its richest man have both fled to Belgium, and families everywhere are cutting back on toys for their kids. “For the first time, toys this year have become a variable [in household budgets],” Serge Papin, […]

Since the right wing of Kansas’ Republican party gained control over the state government last month (defeating both Democrats and moderate Republicans to establish perhaps the most pro-Tea Party state government anywhere in the United States), we’ve been keeping an eye on developments there that could tell us what Tea Party governance would look like.A […]

Around this time last year, Fareed Zakaria named 2012 the “Year of the Election“. The name made sense: China, Russia, Japan, France and the US all had elections or leadership transitions this year, to say nothing of the multitude of smaller nations that made changes at the top.But while most attention has been paid to […]

San Bernardino just scored a victory in court in its struggle with Calpers, California’s state pension system. After entering bankruptcy this summer, San Bernardino had ceased payments to the pension fund, claiming that it doesn’t have the money to meet its pension obligations and still pay salaries for essential city services. In response, Calpers took […]

Russia and the EU had a summit in Brussels this week, and Russia’s perpetual leader continues to underestimate the resolve of the newly-assertive, beleaguered, German-dominated EU. On a number of issues Moscow is running into a European bureaucratic phalanx—from energy and trade disputes, to human rights and Syria policy.The top issue on the agenda is […]

One part of Argentina’s long national nightmare is finally over. The Libertad, a three-masted training ship and the “pride of Argentina’s navy”, had been held in Ghana’s main port since October. Now thanks to a UN court, the ship has been freed to return home: On Saturday, the UN Tribunal for the Law of the […]

In much of Egypt, Islamists are dominating the streets as liberal protests fade away. Half the country is voting today in the second part of the referendum on Islamist President Morsi’s draft constitution today. Rival protestors are still clashing in cities like Alexandria, but the Islamists feel victory is heading their way.The constitution won 57 […]

Season’s greetings to all; on this Friday before Christmas the mighty machine that is Via Meadia shifts into holiday gear. Between today and New Year’s Day we’ll be dividing our attention between the blog and our friends and families at this special time of year. That doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten our duties here; besides fresh […]

That’s our best explanation for this surprising fare from China’s state-run television network: Television audiences across China watched an anarchist antihero rebel against a totalitarian government and persuade the people to rule themselves. Soon the Internet was crackling with quotes of “V for Vendetta’s” famous line: “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments […]

American cities are about to run into some serious financial trouble. Athough President Obama and John Boehner still have strike a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, investors are already betting that new taxes on municipal bonds are on the way. The Wall Street Journal has more: Investors pulled $2.3 billion out of muni-bond funds […]