When Chinese citizens express their opinions through online outlets, they write in the presence of a state-appointed cyber police force. In a fairly recent development, the Communist Party has begun to employ professional web commentators to monitor online bulletins and blogs in order to ‘cleanse’ the internet of anti-party sentiments and to promote the party … Read more
In a column published in Saturday’s New York Times, Christina Romer, former chairwoman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, questioned the merits of Obama’s revived emphasis on supporting the U.S. manufacturing industry. To conclude, she wrote: “As an economic historian, I appreciate what manufacturing has contributed to the United States. It was the engine … Read more
It does not take a particularly long viewing of ESPN’s Sportscenter to get more than one’s fill of Tim Tebow. Yet, it is simply not the sports media chattering about Tim Tebow; the entire pundit world is now ablaze over the athlete. As football fans know, Tim Tebow is currently the starting quarterback of the Denver … Read more
6:00: The JFK Jr. Forum is starting to get very crowded as the audience awaits our conversation with Peter Thiel and Niall Ferguson. Peter Thiel is a technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He first gained attention for innovations in banking and startup finance. Today he is known as the mentor of the PayPal mafia of … Read more
Andrew Paolo Napolitano is a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge and now a political and legal analyst for Fox News Channel. Napolitano started on the channel in 1998, and currently serves as the network’s senior judicial analyst, commenting on legal news and trials. He also hosts the talk show Freedom Watch on Fox Business … Read more
David Zweig of The Atlantic lays out an interesting argument as to why the NFL won’t release its coveted All-22 video footage. All-22, for the non-football fanatics among us, is a zoomed-out video angle that captures the whole field, showing all 22 players at once. Mostly, as NFL fans, we’re treated to close shots of … Read more
This past year has shown the true stretch of globalization. When Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Tunisia on December 17th, 2011, it started a revolution that sent aftershocks around the world, from Egypt to Syria, with plenty others in between. When the subprime mortgage bubble collapsed in the United States it too affected … Read more
Memoirs Mikhail Gorbachev 769 pp. Doubleday. $35. Why a review of Mikhail Gorbachev’s memoir, why a review now and can lessons be drawn there from which are relevant for us today? Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union, a seventy year long experiment in state governance where political authority flowed top-down and all … Read more
Marriage is dying – sound the alarm! Divorce rates are through the roof, gays are poised to storm the altar, and people are cohabiting more than ever; it is time to revert to a “traditional” understanding of marriage if the institution is to survive into the future. This at least was the central message proffered … Read more
Our Last Best Chance: The Pursuit of Peace in a Time of Peril King Abdullah II of Jordan 368 pp. Viking Adult. $27.95. In his memoir, Our Last Best Chance, King Abdullah II of Jordan tells a story that is at once personal and political. His powerful message on the centrality of the resolution of … Read more