We may have finally found a cure for dementia: more work. French researchers have released the results of the largest study to date on retirement and mental health. They found that older participants who delayed their retirement were less likely to get dementia than those who retired earlier. The AP has more: “For each additional […]

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawklings-Blake introduced new legislation this week that would transition Baltimore from a defined benefit pension system to a 401k style retirement plan. This is part of the city’s effort to address a system which hasn’t been fully funded since 2003. If the plan works as promised, it could save the city $8 million […]

The UK’s government has just promised to make Britain the country with the world’s “most generous tax regime” for shale gas. The FT reports that the government plans to reduce the tax of shale production to 30 percent—most of the rest of the energy industry pays 62 percent—while requiring shale companies to provide £100,000 in “community […]

From July 22–29 Catholic youth will gather in Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day, a celebration initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. Every three years (two in this case) a different city hosts WYD, a week of prayer and talks that culminates in a Mass celebrated by the Pope. Attendance at WYD […]

Germany is relying more and more on the US as a principal export market, reports the WSJ: Exports to the U.S.—Germany’s second-largest overseas market after France—grew 3.5% in the first four months of 2013 compared with the same period last year, according to UniCredit. They fell 1.2% to France and 2% to China, Germany’s fifth-biggest […]

Secretary of State John Kerry was at a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan yesterday, tasked with the thankless job of being berated for his boss’s decision-making. The Secretary discovered that average Syrians pretty much agree with what WRM wrote in the WSJ last week: that this administration has a habit of substituting rhetoric for action. […]

Ben Skinner is one of the foremost experts on modern slavery, a former Team Mead researcher who went on to write an acclaimed book and a number of in-depth investigations into a prevalent and troubling phenomenon. Ben previously uncovered dirty truths about slave-caught fish that is sold by the supermarkets where many of us shop. […]

If there’s one thing you need to read today, it’s the transcript of General Michael Hayden’s interview with the Australian Financial Review. To say that excerpting it does it no justice is a massive understatement. Any VM readers interested in geopolitics, Asia, China’s rise, and cyber-espionage owe it to themselves to make their way through the […]

Having closed 11 percent of the city’s public schools in May, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has now been forced to fire 2,000 employees, including 1,000 teachers—half of whom were tenured. The Chicago Tribune reports: “We’re not going to be able to cut our way out of this crisis,” [CPS Spokeswoman Becky] Carroll said. “Our revenues […]

Yesterday President Obama came out swinging in defense of his signature health care law, but among his top talking points is a comparison that has been really distorting the ACA debate. The LA Times reports: Obama touted recent news from New York, California, Oregon and other states that have reported that insurance companies will charge […]