While the economic crisis has already reshaped the lives of generations of Americans,  it’s most lasting legacy may be the acceleration in the decline of the shaky and ossified Blue Social Model. Our recent economic troubles forced state and local governments to make tough decisions now that would otherwise have been kicked into the future. […]

Alert reader Dan Shea drew Via Meadia‘s attention to an unusually depressing article in the Boston Globe.  It is one of those fluffy and airheaded “lifestyle” pieces, the print equivalent of empty calorie junk food and like many such articles it provides a horrifying glimpse into the vacuous nature of the modern American mind.  In […]

By jailing a popular opposition leader, Vladamir Putin risks enflaming protests that have already begun to accuse him of rigging last weekend’s vote. Here’s the story from the New Yorker: The problem for Putin’s government is that, unlike the other two hundred and ninety-nine or so people arrested, Navalny is as close to a real […]

Remember when India and Afghanistan agreed to cooperate on security matters? The first concrete plans under that arrangement are appearing: India is looking forward to training thousands of Afghan National Army officers and enlisted men. Here’s the story from The Diplomat: Under the agreement, India, which has the world’s third-largest army, agreed to train, equip […]

Remember those dynamic, world beating BRICs?  Russia, China and India have all stumbled recently; now comes Brazil.  From FT comes this story on Brazil’s slowed growth: Gross domestic product was unchanged in the three months ended September 30, from the previous quarter, as weakness in the industrial sector spread to Brazil’s once vibrant consumer… For Brazil, […]

Israel and the United States have been saying for years that “all options are on the table” when it comes to the Iranian nuclear program.  Lately the UK has been singing from the same hymnbook and the French have also been heard humming a few bars.But Germany is another story.  Germany refused to support the […]

Congo’s elections were not a good idea. Reports out of Kinshasa, the capital, suggest that those Congolese with enough spare money are getting out of the city, expecting violence. Airlines are canceling flights into the city, stores are emptying of food and supplies, cell phone service has been shut down, and eighteen people have been […]

The thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified on today’s date in 1865, ending slavery throughout the United States.  (The Emancipation Proclamation had only ended slavery in territory controlled by the Confederacy as of January 1, 1863.)Hundreds of thousands died and billions of dollars in wealth and property perished in order […]

The basic facts in Europe have not changed.  Germany and France remain bitterly divided over the future of the European monetary system, and neither has the power to get what it wants.  Germany wants the rest of Europe to adopt German-style economic policies, but key countries like Italy, Spain and even France really can’t do […]

Regular next-day delivery of the mail has been a part of urban life in the English-speaking world for the last 200 years.  No more in the US, apparently; crushed under huge pension burdens, overstaffing, poor business decisions, senseless congressional mandates and competition like email and text messaging, the USPS is giving up overnight first-class mail. […]