On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan melted down as the result of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. Following the earthquake, there were radiation leaks, contamination in the Pacific Ocean, and widespread power outages. The Fukushima accident was a critical turning point for nuclear power and inspired nuclear skepticism around the world. In response to the tragedy, nations adopted a range of stances, from Russia’s renewed investment in nuclear energy to Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power altogether. Anti-nuclear countries have cited nuclear radiation and the potential for meltdowns as the main reasons behind their decisions…

Recent news reports coming out of Nicaragua confirm that Daniel Ortega’s autocratic, left-wing regime is tightening its already repressive rule over the country’s population. Nicaragua’s November presidential election is fast shaping up to be a farce. During just the first two weeks of June, authorities went after four of Ortega’s principal challengers in that election. Police arrested two presidential hopefuls on June 8 – Félix Maradiaga, an academic and political activist, and Juan Sebastián Chamorro, an economist – after detaining Arturo Cruz and Cristiana Chamorro, the leading opposition figure, the previous week. The conveniently timed charges range from money laundering to treason and are transparent pretexts for…

“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” ― Frédéric Bastiat, French economist If there is an absolute maxim by which the American government seems to operate, it is that the taxpayer always gets ripped off. Not only are Americans forced to “spend more on state, municipal, and federal taxes than the annual financial burdens of food, clothing, and housing combined,” but we’re also being played as easy marks by hustlers…

Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon’s National Security Adviser and Secretary of State, has spent most of his life collecting honors. He carried home the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, and many other prizes, awards, and medals. He has been honored for two things: establishing relations with the People’s Republic of China and negotiating peace in Vietnam. Next month is the fiftieth anniversary of the former, so it is a good time to take a cold look at both these events. The opening to China…

‘There had been dramatic changes in outlook in the course of this remarkable century’, writes Margarette Lincoln in her vast and vivid account of the 100 years that took London from the Gunpowder Plot to the Toleration Act, through civil wars, plague and fire, terrorism and revolution, the birth of newspapers and a coffee-drinking, politically conscious public; ‘Newton’s world was not the same as Shakespeare’s.’  Her story is bookended by the deaths of two queens: at the beginning the magnificent funeral of Elizabeth I and towards the end the early death of Mary II, whose funeral, costing £50,000 and modelled…