The issue: Prime minister undoubtedly will win the March election for president, but his party lost big this month Vladimir Putin became acting president of Russia in 1999. He was elected in his own right in 2000 and easily re-elected in 2004. Rather unexpectedly, given Russia’s history, he chose to honor a constitutional ban on […]

The issue: Many key numbers remain grim, but good things are happening nonetheless The nation’s unemployment rate dropped dramatically and unexpectedly last month to 8.6 percent, down from 9 percent, a level at which it had been expected to be stuck for awhile. THAT IS GOOD NEWS and the White House is entitled, and no […]

The issue: Inane messages take their place alongside a Gutenberg Bible The Library of Congress, the repository of the nation’s most important literature, histories and documents, has reached an agreement with Twitter to archive every public tweet ever sent. THAT MEANS Kim Kardashian’s single-woman’s lament following the breakup of her short-lived marriage this year — […]

The issue: Tehran’s erratic conduct comes against a backdrop of increasingly belligerent Iranian missile threats to its neighbors The Iranian government steams that the West doesn’t respect 4,000 years of Persian culture. Neither, one can argue, does the current harsh clerical leadership and corruptly elected government in Tehran. THE LEADERSHIP, through the various thuggish branches […]

The issue: New laws impose tougher penalties, including mandatory jail time for the most serious cheats In Italy, tax evasion is somewhere between a folk art and a way of life. As a nation, Italians have given themselves generous cuts in their taxes by the simple expedient of not paying them. THE RESULT IS that […]

The issue: You’d like to think we learned our lesson with bin Laden and won’t make the same mistake again, but we might Since the death of Osama bin Laden, the ranks of al-Qaida have dramatically diminished and its leadership ranks diminished to just two figures, U.S. intelligence officials tell The Washington Post, “whose demise […]

The issue: If congresswoman is able to resume her office it would be a testament to American democracy’s capacity to weather tragedy Rep. Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords has three goals: to get better; have a baby with her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly; and return to her seat in Congress. We wish her the best of luck […]

The issue: Defense secretary spells out consequences in no uncertain terms Late last week, the two top Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to outline the impact of $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts on the national defense if the congressional deficit reduction panel fails to reach agreement by […]

The issue: Monti says he plans to remain premier at least until the elections scheduled for spring 2013 Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi made a rare miscalculation in seeking to hold on to his office. He would resign, he promised, when Parliament enacted a package of difficult economic and political reforms, banking on the inefficiency […]

The issue: But moon-pie concessions will be a big hit when tourists visit Tranquility Base The U.S. National Park Service is underfunded by several billion dollars, considering the backlog in maintenance, the increased attendance with the need for greater upkeep and new facilities, the demand for more rangers and the necessity of adding lands that […]

The issue: It’s time to channel passion into productive ways of making change In 1981, a group of demonstrators set up camp outside a British air base to protest the government’s decision to allow U.S. nuclear-tipped cruise missiles to be based there. THE GREENHAM Common Women’s Peace Camp initially generated a great deal of publicity, […]

The issue: Legendary coach’s career is over, and it’s a tragedy all around There is an old saying that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. The saying should be amended to good men doing the minimum the regulations require. MAKE NO MISTAKE: Penn State football coach […]

The issue: Obama’s financial incentives are fine, but what is needed is a change in the national mind-set The U.S. soldiers, sailors and aircrews and the vast uniformed logistics apparatus that supported them in the harsh, grueling and often desperately boring slog to victory in World War II did not think of themselves as a […]