North Korea’s official media announced that Kim Jong-il, the country’s long-time leader, died on Saturday of “physical and mental overwork.” Although Kim had several health problems, particularly after a stroke in August 2008, he had appeared vibrant in recent meetings. As such, the surprise development raises concerns about its impact on Pyongyang’s ongoing leadership transition, […]
In his recent speech in Kansas, President Obama accused Republicans of advocating “you’re on your own economics”—a philosophy that supposedly holds that “we are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules.” The implication is that unless you favor raising taxes and levying stricter economic regulations, Obama […]
President Obama had hoped to be in Hawaii today for the start of his 17-day Christmas vacation. Instead, he’s stuck in Washington until Congress finishes its work for the year. But in the Aloha State, residents are already abuzz about the first family’s trip — and its high price tag. Figures obtained by Hawaii Reporter […]
Few people have been more vocal about the challenges facing offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico than Sen. David Vitter. As a Republican from Louisiana, Vitter has firsthand knowledge of the Obama administration’s slow pace of permitting since last year’s oil spill. Louisiana has yet to fully recover from the drilling moratorium and the […]
For the last three months, the village of Wukan in Guangzhou, China, has been the scene of unrest. Locals were outraged that, for years, their lands were often being sold from under them by village officials. When petitions to provincial-level authorities brought no relief, they began to stage public protests, which in turn were met […]
A senior leader of Canada’s Muslim community compared a recent policy requiring no face-coverings be worn when new immigrants take the citizenship oath to the dire oppression of Jews in Nazi Germany. Imam Sayed Soharwardy, a Canadian of Pakistani descent who serves as president of the Supreme Muslim Council of Canada, made his comparison on […]
Several Lebanese financial institutions with alleged ties to the Hizbullah terror organization were part of a massive scheme that funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds through the United States, prosecutors charged on Thursday. AFP reported that a criminal complaint in a New York federal court targeted the Lebanese Canadian Bank and two […]
ATLANTA (AP) — Nearly half of America’s public schools didn’t meet federal achievement standards this year, marking the largest failure rate since the much-criticized No Child Left Behind Law took effect a decade ago, according to a national report released Thursday. The Center on Education Policy report shows more than 43,000 schools — or 48 […]
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D–NV) drifted off to fairy-tale world this week and dreamed up some statistics as he did. On the floor of the Senate, Reid said the following: Many of our job creators are like unicorns—they’re impossible to find and don’t exist. That’s because only a tiny fraction of people making more […]
The House mega-omni—the massive nine-bill appropriations package now moving toward a vote in the House—represents another disappointing failure to cut spending and prove Congress can instill some measure of fiscal discipline. Equally troubling: The procedure for considering the legislation allows everyone to vote for something he likes, while taxpayers pick up the tab. The main […]
