With the cost of borrowing in Spain and Italy rising to new highs today, Europe’s leaders are resolutely focused on the irrelevant.  The EU Summit planned for Thursday will focus on problems in Greece; Italy and Spain aren’t on the agenda.European fecklessness has been a major factor in this crisis: too little, too late could […]

Americans moaning about our endless debt debates should look over the ocean; compared to the EU, the US is a model of efficient transparency.The latest round of European bank stress tests — set up because the first round was so obviously a shady PR exercise intended to make bad banks look good — has flopped.  […]

The United States joined thirty other nations in recognizing Libya’s Transitional National Council as the “legitimate governing authority” of Libya last week. The move will eventually free up the nearly $32 billion formerly belonging to the Qaddafi government for use by the rebels.Diplomatic status and billions of dollars in your enemy’s cash: now all the […]

From the BBC: Iran installs new and better centrifuges.  In Newspeak, that is double plus ungood.

The lonely vessel carrying three crew members, three journalists and ten anti-Israel activists toward Gaza is being carried peacefully to shore in Israel, says the BBC. And so the story of the Great Gaza Floptilla of 2011 comes to an inglorious close.The organizers seem not to have consulted either maps or common sense.  A quick […]

We’ve all heard it over the years: unlike us boorish Anglophones, the Continentals can handle their alcohol.  The French grow up drinking wine at dinner with their families; it is a natural part of life for them.Look again.  An epidemic of “la binge drinking” as they call it is spreading through France; an estimated 45,000 […]

Al Gore and the Greens aren’t the only international crusaders chasing after an elusive, pie in the sky Grand Global Treaty.In the Middle East, another horde of diplomats, pundits, and politicians endlessly predicts an imminent Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. Some of those who have worked on or observed this notoriously insoluble issue closely know better. Things […]

Across a wide variety of jobs and industries, robots are taking the place of humans. Robots, some people argue, are not only cheaper but better at many jobs than a human being.  Whether it be car manufacturing or surgery, a robot is precise and efficient.  Is any job safe?  In a Newsweek column, Daniel Lyons […]

Most geopolitical and economic thought today is based on the belief that India, if not exactly equal to China, is a rising world power.  American grand strategy posits that the two Asian superpowers will rise together, ensuring that with the help of other Asian countries and the US, an Asian power balance can be maintained.But […]

USA Today reported that the University of Iowa has replaced the second essay on its application with a tweet. Jodi Schafer, the director of admissions at University of Iowa, stated “We’re hoping that incorporating social media into the process will bring back some of the creativity.” For those students who are not interested in attending […]