Facebook’s initial public offering reminds us of a story. Once upon a time, there was a young man who fled his homeland (Brazil) because his life was in danger (kidnappers). Like so many before him, he came to the United States. There, in the safety of the freest, most dynamic country on earth, he got a superb education (Harvard), the opportunity to exercise his entrepreneurial zeal (Facebook) ― and the protections of the U.S. legal system to safeguard the fruits of his labor. That man is Eduard

May 21, 2012

Does anyone know what a woman looks like when she’s not being watched? Women are more or less poster girls for the Heisenberg principle: It’s like you can never know what we look like when we’re not being observed, because we’re always being observed.We’ve had two examples getting attention in the recent press attempting to establish what women actually look like in our natural habitat. It’s as if we’re wild, exotic creatures ― as if women were as rare as the luminously fragile glass-winged butt

May 21, 2012

NEW YORK -- The Greek euro tragedy is reaching its final act: it is clear that either this year or next, Greece is highly likely to default on its debt and exit the eurozone.Postponing the exit after the June election with a new government committed to a variant of the same failed policies (recessionary austerity and structural reforms) will not restore growth and competitiveness. Greece is stuck in a vicious cycle of insolvency, lost competitiveness, external deficits, and ever-deepening depres

May 21, 2012

Facebook’s initial public offering reminds us of a story. Once upon a time, there was a young man who fled his homeland (Brazil) because his life was in danger (kidnappers). Like so many before him, he came to the United States. There, in the safety of the freest, most dynamic country on earth, he got a superb education (Harvard), the opportunity to exercise his entrepreneurial zeal (Facebook) -- and the protections of the U.S. legal system to safeguard the fruits of his labor. That man is Eduar

May 21, 2012

Obesity has become a danger far greater than hunger. Yet amid the alarming stories about its harm to America’s health and economy, one bit of information has been drowned out: The percentage of U.S. adults who are obese appears to have plateaued. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which measures the heights and weights of a representative sample of almost 6,000 Americans, the prevalence of obesity in 2009-2010 was essentially the same as in 2003-2008. Gi

May 21, 2012

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama concur on how to deal with the politics of gay marriage: Keep it below the radar. Both the president and his Republican challenger believe their focus in the fall campaign has to be on the economy and jobs. To spend much time on any other issue ― foreign policy, abortion or gay marriage ― would be a distraction. This is the message both campaigns told surrogates to deliver over the past week. Neither side believes many votes will be changed by the president’s recent

May 21, 2012

China’s $3.3 trillion of currency reserves are a nice thing to have when you want to polish your image. Even if money can’t buy you love, it sure can buy lots of positive buzz. The most-populous nation has been throwing tens of billions of dollars at its prestige deficit for a decade, all part of an effort to enhance China’s soft power, something of which the U.S., for all its crises, has a surplus. Why else would Chinese dissidents head to U.S. shores, or embassies, for shelter? Why do so many

May 20, 2012

Not everyone was a big fan of the stiletto. Just like Christian Dior’s voluptuous, bell-shaped skirts, the tall, thin heels drew criticism even at the height of their popularity. In a primer called “The Essential Eve: A Guide to Women’s Perfection,” a doctor advised: “Excessively high heels will always be a source of danger to feet and eventually to health.” Wearing such shoes causes the calf muscles to contract so much, he said, “it becomes almost impossible to walk.” A New York Times headline

May 20, 2012

PRISTINA, Kosovo ― Syria is not on the path to peace through the present form of the six-point plan of Kofi Annan, supported by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.The plan is based on the goodwill of President Assad to stop the repression of political dissent and punitive military actions against communities where an insurrection has arisen over the last year. The plan also presupposes that once the repression and the killing have stopped, a “dialogue on transition” will begin.Th

May 20, 2012

Now that Vladimir Putin is Russia’s president once again, the result of still another fraudulent election, we should expect ever more hostile relations with Moscow.Putin, a vain and vulgar man, was born and bred to despise the United States. And in recent times, Washington has given him little reason to change his mind.The latest example: President Obama waited several days before calling Putin to congratulate him on his election victory this month ― though Obama did manage to call Francois Holl

May 19, 2012

Manila should not get deep into a tit for tat with Beijing over the Scarborough Shoal dispute despite the two capitals trading barbs against each other. While the exchange is understandable and has been kept to levels short of open hostilities, the Philippines should focus on elevating the dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). A month after the standoff, the Philippines has not made good its plan to elevate the matter to ITLOS unilaterally. If Manila thinks that i

May 19, 2012

Thousands of tickets have been sold for the Lady Gaga concert, scheduled for June 3. If the event is canceled, fans will surely get their money back, as with previously abandoned music performances. But the reason this time would officially not be a security threat in light of a recent bombing attack, prompting organizers to call off the concert. In the words of the police, it would be because the star “indulges in revealing her body, dancing erotically and spreading pornography.”Speaking for th

May 19, 2012

While there are no known foolproof solutions to conflicting territorial claims in international politics, patience and self-restraint seem to be a sensible course of action for all the claimants, because if a dispute degenerates into armed conflict, none of the claimants can be assured of the outcome and may even end up losing more than they might have otherwise gained. There is also the risk of conflicts spilling over into new fights and the danger of collateral damage. A case in point is the d

May 19, 2012

While your co-workers hover around the water cooler debating whether it matters if Mitt Romney bullied some kid in his youth, a formerly First World nation called Greece is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Why, you might ask, should Middle America pry its overworked eyes away from Jennifer Lopez gyrating around in a bodysuit on “American Idol” long enough to bother caring?Now replace “Greece” with “your bank.” It suddenly matters a little more, doesn’t it? What if your bank couldn’t loan yo

May 17, 2012