The WSJ has profiled a hedge fund manager and high-level donor to the Romney/Ryan campaign whose political views break significantly with Republican Party orthodoxy: This behind-the-scenes influence has prompted chatter in GOP circles that [Paul] Singer, already an informal policy adviser to the Romney campaign, might be offered a job in a potential Republican administration. Mr. […]

The latest sign of economic weakness in Asia comes from Japan. The government’s monthly report on the economy was downgraded for the first time in ten months: The downgrade highlights the vulnerability of Japan’s economic recovery to slowing global growth, as concerns over the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis chill demand in key export […]

The time to save the euro is running out, but there is one tentative flicker of hope beaming over the stormy scene: Germany and France seem to be working together again.After Chancellor Merkel supported Sarkozy against Hollande in the French presidential race, relations between the two countries that historically run Europe were strained. But according […]

Hundreds of Pakistani Christians have fled Islamabad following blasphemy accusations against a young Christian girl (who may have Downs Syndrome). While some have returned home, CBS reports, many Pakistani Christians are still living in a state of fear and uncertainty: . . . Nooran Bashir, who had fled a few hours after the girl’s arrest, was back in […]

One of the principal roadblocks to creating a vibrant Indian manufacturing system is the issue of land rights. Indian landholdings are normally quite small, and because the land is often very fertile, farmers are reluctant to give up the only occupation they have ever known, especially when caste and identity are also linked to occupation.Here’s how […]

One of today’s more colorful news stories comes from the West Texas town of Lubbock, where Judge Tom Head, now the official Via Meadia State Loon of Texas, warned that the reelection of President Obama would lead to blood in the streets and a UN takeover of the town. The New York Times reports: “He is […]

Iran is raising the stakes in the Syrian conflict. The Wall Street Journal: Iran is sending commanders from its elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and hundreds of foot soldiers to Syria, according to current and former members of the corps.The personnel moves come on top of what these people say are Tehran’s stepped-up efforts to […]

Consumers say they have little hope that the economy will improve, and businesses now appear to share the sentiment. The Financial Times reports that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft were down this past July for the fourth time in five months.This is a key sign that businesses are preparing for tough times ahead. In particular, firms are […]

Today we celebrate one of the world’s least notable anniversaries: the 84th year since the signing of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which outlawed war for the better part of the past century and won its authors the Nobel Peace Prize. This immodest treaty aimed at nothing less than permanent elimination of war as an instrument of national policy and […]

For the past few weeks while WRM has been traveling in India, The American Interest‘s Adam Garfinkle has been pitching in essays to keep Via Meadia going. With the big boss back, Adam has returned to writing at his own blog on AI, “The Middle East and Beyond“. One of the “Beyond” subjects he sometimes returns […]