The New Orleans Times-Picayune just went from being a daily to a thrice-weekly. The NYT has the story: In May, the parent company of The Times-Picayune, Newhouse Media, announced large-scale cutbacks as well as plans to reduce publication to three times a week in favor of an expanded Web site. Saturday’s edition represents the official end […]

Today is one of those days in which we are particularly grateful that George W. Bush is no longer the president of the United States.The news from Afghanistan is grim. With the latest round of deaths, we pass a milestone: 2,000 US combatants have died in what is now the longest war in American history. […]

In another dispatch from a war we’re not fighting, the U.S. is gearing up for a major counterterrorism push in North Africa: The government is considering additional deployments of Predator or Reaper drones to supplement those already in the region. While the pilotless aircraft carry missiles, current talks under way revolve around their utility as […]

What a surprise: The Greek economy yet again is going to be in “worse than expected” shape, shrinking almost 4 percent next year instead of staying flat like all those highly qualified, well trained economists at the IMF thought. The WSJ has the story: Greece’s economy will contract more than projected in 2013, its sixth […]

As a way to save the planet, not many policies are worse than government-backed ethanol. It’s bad for the economy, bad for the environment, doesn’t reduce greenhouse gases, and has led to rapidly rising food prices.Now a recent report links ethanol mandates to civil unrest, social upheaval, and even war.As the report shows, rising food […]

Could Azerbaijan be the key to Israel’s strategy for successfully attacking Iran’s nuclear program? A report from Reuters suggests that talks are afoot between the two unlikely allies: [Azerbaijan’s support] is a far cry from the massive firepower and diplomatic cover that Netanyahu wants from Washington. But, by addressing key weaknesses in any Israeli war […]

Usually the mainstream media is kind to President Obama, especially on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but is that starting to change? Consider: The New York Times and the Washington Post are both thoroughly alarmed by the state of the region after 9/11/12 and the reporters if not the editorial pages have moved on from the “Blame Bush” […]

The New York Times has an interesting partial profile of ascendant Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who is slated to take over the leadership of China’s Communist Party at the upcoming party congress. The article outlines Mr. Xi’s decision as a young man to do a stint in a rural precinct as a deputy party secretary. Smart […]

Jesus warned his followers against double standards in morality. “Take the log out of your own eye first,” he said, “then worry about the splinter in your neighbor’s.”That advice has never seemed more apposite. In the last couple of weeks we’ve seen mobs burning and killing to demonstrate their righteous wrath over a sacrilegious video […]

Evidence is growing that the death of four American officials in Benghazi, including a charismatic and talented ambassador, came at a time when appropriate security procedures and precautions were not being taken. That at least is the burden of this story in the Washington Post, a story that few in the White House will enjoy […]