The rising tide of persecution facing Christians worldwide has drawn the attention of at least one major institution: the US Catholic bishops. This week the bishops are gathered in Baltimore for four days to, among other things, elect a replacement for Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference (that choice has now […]

Why do young Americans find it so hard to get jobs? One explanation is so simple as to be commonly overlooked: Many lack common sense about workplace life, including the importance of punctuality, time management, and good communication with co-workers. As Time reports, a two new surveys have found that lack of such basic skills ranks […]

The murder of a Nigerian national two weeks ago in Goa, a popular tourist destination on India’s west coast, is having outsize effects. At first it seemed like the episode would be only of local significance. A few hundred Nigerians turned out onto the streets of Goa in a protest that eventually turned violent. Police […]

Even in the aftermath of the devastating tropical storm that smashed the Philippines this week, the ugly geopolitics of Asia’s Game of Thrones—a twenty-first century battle between multiple powers for influence, wealth, and power—rears its head. China, with whom the Philippines has tussled over disputed territory in the South China Sea, has made only a […]

The Obama administration was hoping that 500,000 people would have gained insurance through the federal exchange by the end of October. But the WSJ reports that the total number comes only to 40,000 or 50,000. Such low numbers aren’t all that surprising given all we’ve seen so far from the rollout, but when viewed in comparison […]

It’s now official: India is boycotting the Commonwealth conference, a meeting of the heads of state of former British colonies, which is being held in Sri Lanka this week. The decision has its roots in domestic politics, as politicians look forward to next year’s election, and it also shines a light on India’s often bewildering […]

The Associated Press just published a damning investigation of one of President Obama’s biggest “green” policies: corn ethanol. Green is in quotation marks there because, despite being touted as such, corn ethanol fails to reduce emissions—its big selling point—and America’s ever-increasing quotas for the biofuel have incentivized the destruction of five million acres of land […]

For the first time in sixty years, Americans’ desire to drive is waning. Wonder what the next 20 years might bring? Last week, economist David Levinson penned a retrospective analysis on America’s changing traffic patterns…dated November 4, 2030. This hypothetical blog post (h/t Reihan Salam) imagines a world in which per capita miles driven has plummeted, and attempts […]

The results from the latest education report card are in, and the results are discouraging: well under 50 percent of American 4th and 8th graders are below proficiency in reading and math. These numbers, the result of the National Assessment of Education Progress, are actually better than those in previous years, but they still suggest that we […]

Amazon has already mastered the art of fast shipping for online shopping, but it’s about to do itself one better. Partnering with the USPS, Amazon will soon be able to ship packages on Sunday, at no extra charge to the customer. Beginning next week, the feature will be on offer only in New York City […]