Let Us Hope….
I hope, but am not terribly hopeful, that the newly brokered truce in Lebanon will be implemented and will hold. Witnessing from afar the loss of innocent lives — Israeli…
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Two Interesting Takes on Cuba
In a Model Democratic Transition, Cuba’s “Civilian” Leader Has Been Replaced by the Head of Cuba’s Military for Fifty Years, His Brother RaÃ?Â??Ã?Â?Ã?ºl Christopher Hitchens points out in Slate that…
A Warning from King Abdullah
This BBC interview with Jordan’s King Abdullah is well worth watching.
Too Sensitive?
Hateful Racism? Not the Way I Remember It I’d always understood that the phrase “tar baby” referred to a problem from which it was difficult or impossible to unstick yourself….
We Are the People! We Cannot Lose!!!
The aspiring totalitarian Democratic Revolution Party in Mexico, which split off from the weakening authoritarian Institutional Revolutionary Party, is insisting on calling people into the streets to paralyze the country…
Why Orwell Matters
I recently finished Christopher Hitchens’s very fine book Why Orwell Matters. It’s a good read and I recommend it highly. As I’m blogging from an airport just before boarding, I’ll…
The Causes of (Arabic) Economic Growth
My colleagues have been working hard to promote rational discussion of issues of institutional reform in the Arab world. Most recently, they just got Reuven Brenner’s essay “The Causes of…
Those Awful Syrian Taxi Drivers!
David M. Brown at Laissez Faire Books has a good discusion on the LFB.com Blog of “price gouging” by Syrian taxi drivers who charge more than the usual fee —…
Good News from Ohio
Our friends at the Institute for Justice scored a great victory for the property rights of individuals today in the Ohio Supreme Court. How delightful that it came down on…