Sexagenarians take note: in a time of weak markets and shaky pensions, retiring well on a tight budget may be easier than you think. There’s a place where warm weather, good health care, low taxes, friendly neighbors and beautiful surroundings are available year round, cheap, and beachfront homes go for about $100,000.Curious? It’s in a […]

President Bush’s No Child Left Behind act was widely hailed as a bipartisan cure for the problems of American education.  That no longer rings true; the law has been in force for some time and plenty of children are being left behind every day at schools from all over the land.The law’s goals include tracking […]

In yet another sign of closer cooperation between Asian powers and the US, Japan has chosen the F-35 fighter as the jet of choice to upgrade its air force.Reports the WSJ: Washington, Japan’s chief security ally, had quietly pushed the case for a U.S. jet by highlighting the importance of interoperability and the ability to share […]

The Armenian genocide has become a serious sticking point between the French and Turks. As our readers probably know, Turkey refuses to officially recognize the massacre of Armenians during and after WWI as a “genocide.” Paris takes another view, and last night legislatures voted to make it a crime to deny the Armenian genocide. Readers […]

In recent days world markets have rallied as the scale of ECB funding to Europe’s banks becomes clear.  A torrent of euros has gushed into bank vaults all over the Old World: something like $700 billion dollars.  The money comes at an attractively low interest rate: one percent.  (There are days Via Meadia wishes we […]

Sitting in a Pizza Hut just a block from Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Mina Rezkalla can’t stop telling me how much he loves Seinfeld. This is strange not least because Egypt is one of the most anti-Semitic countries in the world and Jerry Seinfeld’s eponymous television series is an exemplar of American Jewish humor. A 2010 […]

Just in time for Christmas, new research by Italian government scientists revives the lagging faith of those who believe that the mysterious Shroud of Turin is a miraculous image of Christ rather than a medieval forgery: Italian government scientists have claimed to have discovered evidence that a supernatural event formed the image on the Turin […]

In an attempt to burnish its green credentials, the British Energy firm BP has been telling us for years its initials stand for “Beyond Petroleum.” As part of this campaign, the company has been aggressively touting the achievements of its relatively small alternative energy division. Yet a recent announcement may prompt a change to a […]

Earlier this week the Economist noted that Syria was “growing steadily less peaceful”. Today, the slow collapse has become a grim slide.Last night, Ha’aretz ran this headline: “Assad losing control as 10,000 soldiers desert Syrian military”. Other would-be deserters were not so lucky: On Monday, reports circulated that scores of soldiers were machine-gunned by their […]

It’s a good thing Jesus was born when he was: A combination of fire, blight, and hungry cattle have decimated the frankincense crop in Ethiopia, quite possibly for years to come. Here’s the story: The number of boswellia trees, which produce frankincense, could drop by half in the next 15 years and all but disappear […]