Who’s in front of the class? There are more black, Hispanic and Asian teachers in the US than there were in 1987, a new study shows -- but at the front of our nation’s classrooms, men are a shrinking minority.　The report, published by the US Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, compared survey data from 1987-88 and 2011-12. Over this period, the teaching force went from 12.4 percent minority to 17.3 percent minority. That’s still less than the student body, which was

April 26, 2017

In 2009, when the world tried to negotiate a successor for the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen, the United States blamed the weak and unbinding agreement on China’s unwillingness to accept even long-term limits on carbon emissions. China, suspicious of American and European attempts to curtail its growth, repeatedly refused to respond to President Barack Obama’s pleas.　But recently, as the United States is feverishly attempting to undo its climate and “cleantech” policies, a scenario that few would

April 26, 2017

The launch of China’s second aircraft carrier, expected as soon as this week, will be an important and depressing moment for India. The “Type 001A” -- likely to be called the “Shandong” -- will give China an edge for the first time in the carrier race with its Asian rival, a literal two-to-one advantage. After decommissioning the INS Viraat earlier this year, the Indian Navy is down to a single carrier, INS Vikramaditya. Worse, the Shandong has been built at China’s own giant shipyard at Dalian;

April 26, 2017

The global economy is gathering momentum, the International Monetary Fund has declared. That’s probably correct and undeniably encouraging, but there’s an ominous discord between this economic expansion and what’s euphemistically called “political uncertainty” -- that is, the stresses caused by surging anti-trade, anti-market, anti-immigrant populism.　This “uncertainty” could be the prelude to some seriously bad policies, enough to derail one or more leading economies and stall the global expans

April 26, 2017

For globalists rattled by Brexit and Donald Trump, the first round of the French presidential race was a relief. They should savor it. It probably won’t last.　Turnout was nearly 70 percent. I live in one of France’s most important political centers -- London -- and here voters queued for hours (in polite English fashion) to cast their ballots.　And this time, pollsters got it right: The hypernationalist Marine Le Pen will face a 39-year-old centrist reformer, Emmanuel Macron, from a political par

April 25, 2017

I don’t really care what’s in President Donald Trump’s tax returns.　Sure, I think Trump shows real contempt for citizens and good government by refusing to do what all recent presidents have done without a fuss. And yes, his refusal is another neon sign advertising a menu of character and ethical deficits. But we already know Trump is rich, so who cares if he is richer or poorer than we think? We already know the tax tricks real estate developers and the 1 percent use, so who cares about the det

April 25, 2017

A huge clue -- doubly huge, in fact -- has surfaced in the global mystery behind President Donald Trump’s bizarrely timed, effusively toned congratulatory call to Turkey’s now-stronger-than-ever strongman president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.　It is a revelation that, when it comes to Turkey and Erdogan, Trump has a towering conflict of interest. And this time, attention must be paid. Because Trump himself would be the first to concede our source is not just believable, but downright unimpeachable.　“I

April 25, 2017

France’s first round in its presidential election Sunday resulted in the rejection of the long-established political order as outsiders Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen advanced to the May 7 runoff. But bypassing entrenched political parties is one matter; rejecting institutions designed to increase cohesion among European nations is another. French voters would be wise to make Macron -- the more sensible, centrist candidate -- their nation’s next president.Macron is proudly and profoundly pro-

April 25, 2017

Based on his inflammatory -- and familiar -- rhetoric regarding immigration and the “theft of American prosperity” that Donald Trump spouted in a campaign-style appearance in Wisconsin last week, one might assume the “America First” president was putting the hammer down on the controversial H-1B visa program that allows high-skilled foreign workers to enter the country temporarily to fill specialized jobs. But when the dust settled in front of the “Buy American Hire American sign” at the Snap-On

April 24, 2017

When people describe members of the millennial generation -- usually considered those born between 1982 and 2000 -- a lot of adjectives get thrown around: lazy, entitled, irresponsible, selfish, unambitious.　Some of these critiques seem warranted given that one in three young Americans lives with a parent or parents and a quarter of those individuals don’t work or go to school.　Few people would describe millennials as conventional in their thinking, but a recent study suggests a surprising thesi

April 24, 2017

In the 21st century, human misery has become something of a growth industry. Conflicts have driven the number of displaced people to an all-time high; last December, the United Nations launched a record appeal for humanitarian aid; three months later, citing impending famines in several African countries, it said the world faced the “largest humanitarian crisis” since the UN’s founding.　Given the growing demands placed on top donor nations, they could be forgiven their fatigue. What’s badly need

April 24, 2017

There may be revolution in the air in France, but not the Bastille kind. Winds of change are howling through the country from Calais to Cannes, and they could replace European unity with circle-the-wagons nationalism.　More so than any other election in Europe this year, France’s presidential ballot Sunday was a referendum on the battered European Union. Though Brexit wobbled the bloc, it wasn’t the existential broadside the French election could deliver. The shadow over the EU’s future came in t

April 23, 2017