Overview for News

Saint Putin?

Putin's supporters pull astounding stunts. If its not busty Russian chicks calling for a collective Putin “ strip ” or European techno odes to the Russian alpha male it is more solemn Russian women who are glorifying the Russian prime minister. It seems that apart from being a gifted Judo …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Monday October 3, 2011

How to Make Money Out of Art

Painters seem to be like rock stars: they are worth more once dead. Be it Picasso, Matisse or Monet, all their works skyrocketed in value once the respective painters passed away. Throughout their lifetimes a lot of painters, especially those of the classical eras (Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Saturday October 1, 2011

Turkey's Erdogan Goes Rogue

Turkey’s recent brawl at the U.N fits in perfectly with Recep Erdogan’s new “street credit” foreign policy. To recap, bodyguards of the Turkish prime minister got rough with UN security after it sent back the entourage, which tried to barge forward in the line in order to be present as …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Saturday October 1, 2011

No, The Red Sox Did Not Choke

It didn’t take long for the mob to start spewing venom over the Red Sox’s collapse. On the morning after the team’s season-ending defeat Wednesday night, the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy cut to the chase: “The greatest choke in baseball history ended the only way it could have ended, with …

Written by Alan Hirsch on Friday September 30, 2011

The Fat Diaries: It's a Struggle Keeping Out Bad Influences

My kids are finally reaching that age where I’m not involved in every aspect of their life. A few years ago I decided what they ate for breakfast lunch and dinner. I came up with, or at least supervised every activity they pursued. I enforced good manners from the moment they woke up to the …

Written by Monica Marier on Friday September 30, 2011

Michael Moore and the Tea Party Deserve Each Other

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Written by Telly Davidson on Friday September 30, 2011

The EU's Big Fat Greek Mess

Herman van Rompuy is neither a "poet lost in politics," nor “charismatic,” but rather a timid church mouse - precisely the sort of leader that a lowest common denominator institution like the EU requires. This reputation has dogged Von Rompuy ever since his contested appointment as President of the …

Written by Robin Tim Weis on Friday September 30, 2011

Why Obama is Quiet About Al-Awlaki

Michael Tomasky asks , "Why doesn't President Obama take more credit for killing the al-Qaeda leadership?" Tomasky is normally a tough-minded observer of all points of the political compass, but on this occasion he has sunk much too deep into liberal self-regard. Imagine if the Bush …

Written by David Frum on Friday September 30, 2011

Opposition Media Fails to Stop Chavez (UPDATED)

The frustrating fact about many of the news organizations that are opposed to Hugo Chavez is that they are not very good at their job. To give a recent example, on September 28th the em> Nuevo Herald

Written by Daniela Chacón Arias on Friday September 30, 2011

Obama Won't Indulge Black Frustrations

When it comes to issues of race, the nation’s first black president makes us question one of the hoariest axioms in American politics: If both the left and the right are mad at you, are you doing something right? On September 29th, em> Politico

Written by Jay Gatsby on Friday September 30, 2011

Wow, US Banks Really Hate Debit Cards

One of the really striking differences between daily life in the US and Canada is the all-pervasiveness of debit cards north of the 49th parallel and their comparative absence to the south. On the US side, banks until recently charged retailers a very hefty price for the use of a debit card, …

Written by David Frum on Friday September 30, 2011

I May Vote for Romney, But I Won't Like it

David manfully takes up the job of stirring enthusiasm for Mitt Romney as President. I was for Pawlenty before that became impossible. Now Perry has revealed himself to be another Republican politician who cannot talk. Worse, he seems to insult the base without knowing it. At least with …

Written by John Vecchione on Friday September 30, 2011

Government is a Lousy Investor

Jim DiPeso is right to draw attention to the Colony Shale disaster and the disastrous Synfuels government supported enterprise that helped make it happen. But there's a broader point to be made: the government is utterly clueless when it comes to developing consumer products. Aside from …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Friday September 30, 2011

Want Fewer Wildfires? Burn More Wood.

The recent wildfires in Texas have returned forest management to the headlines. In Texas and elsewhere, wildfires have destroyed property, endangered firefighters and polluted the local environment. While fires are a natural phenomenon, humans can increase their severity or frequency through …

Written by Bob McKie on Friday September 30, 2011

Perry: Media Bubble Boy

Texas Governor Rick Perry has had a tough week politically because of his weak performance at the last GOP presidential debate. He's had to backtrack from comments he made and his standing in the polls has taken a hit . There's been a lot of commentary regarding why Perry hasn't done as well …

Written by Mark R. Yzaguirre on Friday September 30, 2011

When the Quotes Change, I Check My Attributions

Mitt Romney is a big fan of Winston Churchill. At a recent GOP debates he promised that if he was elected, a priority of his would be to restore a bust of Churchill back into the Oval Office. Yet it seems that Churchill-philia has gotten the better of Romney. During a Town Hall meeting in New …

Written by Noah Kristula-Green on Thursday September 29, 2011

Colony Shale, The First Solyndra

Solyndra is a lesson in how the substitution of wishful thinking for green eyeshades can stimulate the growth of costly energy carbuncles that emit malodorous political fumes. Today it is Solyndra. Yesterday it was Colony Shale. Don’t remember Colony Shale? Coloradans do. In the mesa country …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Thursday September 29, 2011

The EPA is Not Insane

The Obama White House is many things—flailing as it fishtails from an adult-in-the-room pose to screaming populism; cack-handed, as it both infuriates its base and loses independents; and passive to the point of paralysis, as Chris Christie pointed out in his Reagan Library speech. The Obama …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Thursday September 29, 2011

A Template for a GOP Economic Plan

America is now coping with the debt binge of the past decade and stagnating incomes across the board. Trying to provide some cushion for those left economically behind may be a good short-term strategy. But policy makers also need to work toward a restructuring of America's economic architecture. …

Written by Fred Bauer on Wednesday September 28, 2011

The Case for Romney

In my column for The Week , I make the affirmative case for Mitt Romney to be the Republican presidential nominee: For three years, Republican activists, strategists, and donors have tried to find a plausible alternative to Romney, and again and again they have failed. For about 15 minutes, …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday September 28, 2011