Marking the Anniversary of the Embassy Seizure

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the seizing of the U. S. embassy in Tehran by factions of the revolution that overthrew the shah. President Obama has issued a statement on the occasion which I will reproduce in full here: Thirty years ago today, the American Embassy in Tehran was seized. The 444 days that began on November 4, 1979 ...

American Opportunity Myths

Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins have written a piece for Brookings titled "Five Myths About Our Land of Opportunity."  None of it's new to those who've paid much attention to these things in recent years. What's interesting, though, is the seeming contradiction in Myths 1 and 4. 1. Americans enjoy more economic opportunity than people in other countries. Actually, some other advanced ...

Britain Seeks Ban On Pint Glasses

As part of their ongoing effort to cement George Orwell's reputation by making him the most accurate prophet in history, the British Home Office is now investigating the possiblity of forcing every Pub in Britain to replace pint glasses with plastic pint cups: The BBC reported recently that the British Home Office is seeking a new design for pint glasses that ...

Clearing the Path

If true this: INTELLIGENCE chief Sir John Scarlett has been told that Saudi Arabia is ready to allow Israel to bomb Iran’s new nuclear site. The head of MI6 discussed the issue in London with Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Saudi officials after British intelligence officers helped to uncover the plant, in the side of a mountain near the ancient city of ...

UK Court: Blogger Anonymity Not a Right

A British judge has ruled against a blogger who sought an injunction against having his secret identity published in the Times. Thousands of bloggers who operate behind the cloak of anonymity have no right to keep their identities secret, the High Court ruled yesterday.  In a landmark decision, Mr Justice Eady refused to grant an order to protect the ...

Labour Falters

I am usually loath to comment on the domestic politics of countries other than my own but, considering the more general implications of the story, I felt that the ongoing problems being encountered by Britain's Labour Party were worth a mention: June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Gordon Brown’s Labour Party was bracing for defeat in elections for the European Parliament as more ...

Gordon Brown’s Last Days

Despite an embarrassing drubbing of his Labour Party at the polls and the resignation of several key ministers, the UK's Gordon Brown vows "I will not waver, I will not walk away, I will finish the work." As I explain in my New Atlanticist post "Britain's Brown on Borrowed Time," that's unlikely to happen.  Nor should it. The bottom line is that ...

New Iron Curtain?

The political financial crisis came to a head yesterday in Europe, with Hungary begging for help from its fellow EU members under the peril of a new "iron curtain" dividing the Continent and getting matter-of-factly rejected.  My New Atlanticist piece on the controversy, "Economic 'Iron Curtain' Dividing Europe?" concludes: The present crisis has had the salutory effect of splashing a bit ...

War on Terror into the Dustbin of History?

In both a Guardian op-ed and a speech in Mumbai, both today, British foreign secretary David Milibrand says that the "war on terror" was a bad idea. In my New Atlanticist essay, "Time to Lose War on Terror?" I disagree.

Fixing US-UK Relations

In a New Atlanticist essay "How Special is the Special Relationship?" I take a look at claims that the US-UK relations are in bad shape and argue that, while the US may need an attitude adjustment, our friends across the pond need to step up their contribution to the partnership. While a Rumsfeldian dismissiveness and talk of "work-arounds" is decidedly ...

Health Care Tradeoffs (Updated)

Ezra Klein wrote an interesting post Wednesday arguing that extending life through medical intervention is expensive and that tradeoffs and rationing have to be made.  The only question, then, is how much value is placed on that extra unit of health care and who's making the valuation. The inverse of the American health care system is the British health care system. ...

Labour, Brown Lose Big in Glasgow

The Scottish Nationalist Party took one of Labour's safest seats in a rather dramatic and unexpected upset that marks yet another setback for British prime minister Gordon Brown: Unfortunately for Labour, Glasgow is only the latest in a string of woeful electoral performances for the party under Mr Brown’s leadership. His party lost the London mayoralty to the Conservatives; it was ...

Obama Running Away with European Vote

Barack Obama would easily win the presidency if the citizens of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were doing the voting rather than Americans, Gallup reports. Unless I've missed something, Europeans aren't eligible to vote in our elections.   These surveys nonetheless provide interesting insights into how different cultures view things.   Gallup's Zsolt Nyiri, Frank Newport, and Jeffrey Jones provide ...

British Burglars Could Go Free!

The United Kingdom is seriously considering doing away with prison sentences for scores of "lesser" crimes, Home Affairs Correspondent Tom Whitehead reports for the Daily Express. Hundreds of thousands of crooks could escape jail every year under the proposals by advisers to the Lord Chief Justice. Those sentenced to short, sharp shock jail terms of less than 12 months for “less ...

Huzzah for Provincialism!

Today's Outrage of the Day on the right side of the blogosphere regards this latest bit from Barack Obama, regarding the need for our educational system to get better at teaching other languages. Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English -- they'll learn English ...