From the Associated Press, via the Silicon Valley’s MercuryNews.com SACRAMENTO — The state auditor’s office on Thursday added teacher pensions to the list of high-risk issues facing California government.The report by State Auditor Elaine Howle added the nation’s largest teacher pension fund because it can’t meet the costs of retirement benefits beyond the next 30 […]

Wondering why Europe’s two most important leaders seem ineffectual and paralytic confronted with the greatest crisis in the history of the European Union?A recent German opinion poll sheds some light on the problem.  75 percent of Germans polled said they lacked confidence in Merkel’s leadership on the euro; only 22 percent said they backed her.  […]

At The American Interest we’ve been commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a series of on line and print articles.  The September/October print issue is now out and features an article on the consequences of the war by Allen C. Guelzo at Gettysburg College.  It’s a great read; as a native South […]

There are two weeks left of August and city officials in a number of cities are working to stave off the kind of unpredictable flash mob violence that, worst case, could set off Londonesque street scenes in the US.  Last week came the Philadelphia curfew; a couple of other jurisdictions are feeling nervous now.  After […]

When Democratic governor Dannell P. Malloy told state workers to accept $1.6 billion in cuts and big changes in the pension plan, they balked.  They did more; they formally rejected the contract.Fine, said the governor; I don’t have any money.  If you won’t cut costs, I’ll cut staff — and the state began sending out […]

It appears I am not alone in predicting complications arising from Turkey’s policy toward its eastern neighbors. David Gardner in the Financial Times sees a new polarity arising in the Middle East, pitting Shia Iran against Sunni Turkey: Turkey has now become a head-on rival to Iran across the Middle East. Whereas Tehran backs several […]

Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the leader who presided over its demise isn’t happy about the Russia he sees.  Said Gorbachev: Our senior management should be updated…There comes a time when you need to get out of this rut….If the regime behaves just to increase its own power then this is […]

Only Israel will benefit from the Arab spring, Iraqi Prime Minister has warned the Arab world.  As reported in the New York Times: “There is no doubt that there is a country that is waiting for the Arab countries to be ripped and is waiting for internal corrosion,” [Maliki]  said in Baghdad. “Zionists and Israel […]

If, like many Americans, you have left your land-line phone to gather dust while you explore the joys of wireless technology, you may be unaware that a major strike is now underway across the Eastern Seaboard. Indeed, the strike of 45,000 Verizon land-line technicians has received relatively little attention in the press, even from the […]

This is the summer of the Great Fear, and never more so than on this grim morning with stock futures sharply down — again — and real worries about the possibility that the banking system might freeze up.  For history buffs, it feels a little bit like 1931.  The US economy and stock market seemed […]