August is traditionally a dead month for news. Government is on vacation. Lots of businesses slow down. And it’s too hot for political violence. Only heathen insurgents from warm countries actually stir in August. As the major journals turn increasingly to junior reporters and stringers while the A-team hits the [...]

…Is that they tend to only give you two options.
Following Jacques Chirac’s announcement that France will be joining the other countries holding refeendums on the constitution it’s prompted me to post a thought about the constitution referendum(s) that I’ve had before - wouldn’t it be nice to have a third option?
I’ve written here before about [...]

Just saw this. A Swedish priest was sentenced to a month in jail for a sermon where he donounced homosexuality in fairly offensive terms, - said homosexuality had caused aids, but without calling for violence or anything like that.
This is so wrong. So very wrong. There’s little very little debate, little attention piaid to this.
I [...]

This piece from the Washington Post may be old news to our readers, but it was a new idea - and more importantly - new practice to me.
With two like-minded unions, the clothing-and-laundry UNITE and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (soon to become one union, UNITE-HERE, next month), the SEIU is embarking on [...]

Busy times in Europe, especially with so much f?tbol to watch. Some notes from all parts:

Read more… or Read more right here… »

Germany’s government and opposition have reached a compromise on laws to regulate immigration. [...]

[Accidentallly published a draft. Sorry.]

Kevin Drum has an analysis of the recent failures in Iraq that merit some serious consideration. His point is that where many see the Iraq war as a good idea that was ruined by incompetent leadership, there is a more fundamental problem. Setting up the regime people thought they were installing in Iraq [...]

Johan “In defense of Global Capitalism” Norberg really doesn’t like Joseph Stiglitz, but he really, really likes Jagdish Bhagwati. I found that interesting because my impression - based on reading op-eds and reviews of their respective globo books - was that while Stiglitz has adopted the posture of a critic of “globalization” and Bhagwati the [...]

I note - probably with more amusement than Michael O’Leary intends - Ryanair’s recent defeat at the European Commission. I’m afraid I have never found it terribly surprising to see so-called entrepreneurs who complain about government distorting the markets do a 180 degree when it comes to their own subsidies, but O’Leary’s recent anti-EC [...]

Am I the only one here that thinks Gerhard Schroeder’s making himself look like a bit of a goon with his condescending lectures to east European countries that they’d better raise their taxes… or else?
Here’s an issue that’s been quietly bubbling for some time, at least here in Prague. Either both sides have raised the [...]