By most accounts, Adams Oshiomhole is the most popular governor Nigeria’s Edo state has ever had. He is up for reelection next week, and the outcome could go one of three ways: Ruling-party thugs will kill him, as they have already twice tried to do ― including once last week. They will steal the election, as is the nation’s custom. Or, the least likely, Oshiomhole will be declared the winner.“They have not had a transparent election in a very long time,” Oshiomhole told me in an interview.You s

July 8, 2012

Advocates of so-called attachment parenting take an all-encompassing approach: assiduous attention to a child’s every need, including prolonged breast-feeding. But those who claim that these practices benefit children’s intelligence miss an important point. A child’s biggest advantage arises from having the family resources that make such care giving possible in the first place. In this sense, attachment parenting is a trend among families whose children need it least ― the affluent. Fortunately

July 8, 2012

Improved technology is changing the spy game, merging once-disparate roles in the intelligence field and favoring an increased download of traditional spy roles to the private sector.This week, Canada’s Postmedia News cited a speech by Richard Fadden, the head of Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, in which he acknowledged this new reality.Fadden added that analysts must be well-read across various subject matters, and be creative enough to imagine threats that have

July 8, 2012

Jonah Lehrer is a science writer who at age 30 is at the top of his game. He has written three books, two of them bestsellers, his articles and columns run in the country’s best newspapers and magazines and he has parlayed his publishing success into online celebrity and star billing on the speaking circuit.But two weeks ago, just after he moved from Wired magazine to the New Yorker, the most desirable billet in literary journalism, Lehrer got a sour dose of notoriety: He was drawn into a fierce

July 6, 2012

Lord Acton may have been right and corruption is really a function of power. But the seemingly endless parade of banking scandals in recent months suggests that money is every bit as corrosive.Last week, the British bank Barclays provided more compelling evidence when it agreed to pay $453 million to U.S. and British authorities to settle allegations that it manipulated key interest rates ― and the Barclays settlement is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of this scandal. Plainly, the system

July 6, 2012

Evidence abounds that Manila remains obsessed with playing the role of troublemaker in the South China Sea. In its latest attempt to raise tensions over Huangyan Island, Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III said on Monday that his country may ask the United States to deploy spy planes over the South China Sea. This clearly shows Manila is determined to drag Washington into its maritime disputes with China. By seeking backup from the U.S. in its quarrel with Beijing, Manila has ignored the

July 6, 2012

Hong Kong was supposed to be mainland China’s showcase to the world (Taiwan in particular) of the benefits of its “one country, two systems” policy. Instead, it has quickly become the Communist government’s constant headache. The city boiled with discontent as its new chief executive Leung Chun-ying was sworn in yesterday. Being the Beijing-reporting mayor of a fierce freedom-oriented city such as Hong Kong has not been an easy job, and Leung certainly came onboard in a much worse position than

July 6, 2012

As Americans pause this Fourth of July to reflect on their independence, it’s worth casting a thought across the Atlantic. One story from America’s founding era, in particular, keeps reminding us of modern-day Europe. Recall that during and after the American Revolution, public spending soared. Without the power to directly tax, the Continental Congress had to print and borrow money to meet its obligations. Printing bills of credit led to inflation: From 1779 to 1781, prices increased nearly 10-

July 5, 2012

In 1933, four years after a calamitous market crash, Americans were losing hope. But then, on a cold day in March, Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his first inaugural address.The new president pulled no punches, laying blame for the country’s financial woes squarely on Wall Street speculators ― and, by implication, on their benefactors in Washington. “They have no vision,” he said, citing a passage from the Bible, “and when there is no vision, the people perish.”Roosevelt, by contrast, clearly a

July 5, 2012

Investor activism is on the rise in post-Fukushima Japan. If it takes effect, the proof may show up at Nomura Holdings Inc. Some stockholders want to rename the venerable investment bank “Vegetable Holdings” to urge healthy business practices on a board embroiled in insider-trading accusations. Just as untenable was the suggestion at the annual general meeting that Nomura re-equip its offices with old-style Japanese toilets ― essentially holes in the ground. Yet another shareholder proposal aims

July 5, 2012

One way the U.S. Congress could respond to Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on the individual insurance mandate would be to yank the debate over health care policy back to square one. Simply overturn the law and start from scratch, as the Republican chorus is calling for. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has promised a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act as soon as next week, and Mitt Romney has underlined his pledge, if elected president, to dispense with it on his first day in office. What

July 4, 2012

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s historic health care decision, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney appeared before the cameras to offer their spin. Neither took questions. For weeks, both men methodically calibrated their response to what was the most eagerly anticipated pre-election high court decision ever. The ruling settles the law, not the politics. The outcome poses challenges for both presidential contenders. Obama’s claim that it means the country “can’t refight” the law is a pipedream. Romne

July 4, 2012