After about three weeks in the world’s largest democracy, tomorrow night I’ll be heading home to what many see as the world’s most annoying one. Come the weekend, I’ll be back in the stately Mead manor recovering from jet lag and waiting nervously for all the bills from the India trip to come in.I’ve been so […]

Loyal VM readers know we’ve been following the debate over circumcision occasioned by the barbarous bans put in place in Cologne and in Vorarlberg Province. VM alum Yair Rosenberg, writing for Tablet, has seen a leaked copy of the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on circumcision and notes that it changes the organization’s previous recommendation […]

Just as diplomatic efforts with Iran are stalling, a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency informs us of worrisome Iranian nuclear activity, including the construction of a number of new centrifuges. Many now believe the nuclear program is speeding up. The New York Times reports: Almost all of the new equipment is being installed […]

Another missile shield may be on the horizon. The Wall Street Journal reports that America is now planning to expand the number of missile defense systems in Asia, with new radar facilities to be deployed in Japan and a possibility of more to come elsewhere in the region: The planned buildup is part of a defensive […]

That’s the question the FT is asking. It’s an important question. Major drives by organized labor in Ohio and other Midwestern swing states are giving the president an edge. In an election where the results in Ohio could decide the contest, this is no small matter: “In Ohio, because of the recent history under Kasich, we will […]

McClatchy reports that Syria’s Kurds are dead set on reversing some historical land confiscations that’ve left them high and dry: The land confiscation took place across the country. But in the predominantly Kurdish province of Hasaka, in Syria’s northeast corner, the resettlement of Arabs from another part of the country in the 1970s created ethnic tensions […]

According to the Independent, “British Government sources” are saying that the Obama administration is begging European leaders to keep Greece in the euro fold until after November: American officials are understood to be worried that if they decide Greece has not done enough to meet its deficit targets and withhold the money, it would automatically trigger Greece’s exit […]

One of the most remarkable things about the U.S. energy revolution is how quickly it is changing the conversation. On Wednesday, Mitt Romney released a 21-page policy paper outlining how he intends to encourage domestic energy (oil) production in order to reach partial energy independence (using only North American sources) by 2020. The Financial Times reports: The […]

Is the cost of doing business poised to skyrocket on January 1? With tax cuts about to expire and spending cuts poised to take effect, the small business community seems to think so. The WSJ’s Washington Wire blog has the story: A group that lobbies for small businesses released a big survey showing that uncertainty […]

by Roger BerkowitzBeyond all the silliness attached to the Todd Akin case this week, the only meaningful comment came from Rachel Riederer. In an essay in Guernica, Riederer writes: The content of [Akin’s] statements was, of course, ridiculous and offensive. But the comments struck me most as a rhetorical move, one that’s in wide usage […]