One likely result of the Gaza War: a boom in missile defense that will probably make a lot of money for some Israeli and American companies. Israel’s impressive Iron Dome system is really shining: By late Friday, the system had intercepted a total of 184 rockets in recent days, 99 of them on Friday alone, […]

Yet another state is preparing for a major hit by the pension storm. Oregon’s pension fund for public employees is now in a $16 billion hole caused by the failure of its investments to come anywhere close to the 8 percent rate of return the state was predicting. Now lawmakers are forced to choose between contributing billions of taxpayer […]

As Israeli airstrikes and naval shells bombarded Gaza this weekend, the world asked the question that perennially frustrates, confuses and enrages so many people across the planet: Why aren’t the Americans hating on Israel more?As in Operation Cast Lead, the last big conflict between Israel and Hamas, and as during the operation against Hezbollah in […]

On today’s date in 1558, Mary I of England died, and her half-sister the Princess Elizabeth succeeded her as Queen. Elizabeth would reign almost 45 years and change the world. Americans should think of her as our Founding Mother; although Sir Walter Raleigh’s attempt at a colony failed, from her reign on the English planned […]

The Obama Administration continued a full diplomatic offensive this week in Asia.Just days after the election, nearly all of America’s top foreign policy officials are visiting countries in the Asia-Pacific region in an unprecedented display of commitment. Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Panetta have both been in Australia this week and are expected to travel to […]

In a week that prominently featured a cascade of moral failures among this nation’s top military and intelligence brass, we note there is lots of talk about “ethics classes” for the brass. Frankly, by the time somebody is all grown up and wearing an officer’s uniform, the time for ethics training is probably past. This […]

The ethanol boondoggle is one of the most costly of American government subsidies. It’s a case where clueless and naive greens were taken to the cleaners by greedy farm interests. And it looks like the ag lobby’s powers of enchantment over environmentalists are as strong as ever.Faced with a crippling drought which has devastated this […]

There’s a lot of talk going around these days about how drastically 3D printers might change our day-to-day lives. The ability to print any object from layers of plastic has many picturing themselves printing any item on demand whenever they happen to need it. But will the machines really have such profound effect on our lives? Smartplanet chimes […]

Via Meadia is hiring!We are pleased to announce that Via Meadia is looking for three new staff writer positions: a senior writer and two junior writers. All would likely be relatively recent college grads; the “senior” writer would have some experience and expertise in important domestic policy issues that Via Meadia follows — or intends to follow as […]

Via Meadia has been pounding the drum for some time about the new US energy boom and the geopolitical shifts it entails. This week the boom has gone mainstream. First the IEA predicted the US will overtake Saudi Arabia in oil production as soon as 2017. And now Daniel Yergin himself is endorsing the core […]