Only a few lonely media outlets responded to the Aurora Mall murders by calling for stricter gun control measures. President Barack Obama and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper made eloquent statements, as did Mitt Romney, but neither the two Democrats nor the Republican called for changes in gun laws. Many conservatives and gun rights advocates took…
This is a tale of two cities. No, not Dickens’ phlegmatic London and passionate Paris. Nor the two neighborhoods Charles Murray contrasted in his recent bestseller “Coming Apart” — prosperous but isolated Belmont (actually, Mitt Romney’s home for decades) and needy and disorganized Fishtown. These two cities have names you may not recognize but which…
Perhaps the rain made the teleprompter unreadable. That’s one thought I had on pondering Barack Obama’s comments to a rain-soaked rally in Roanoke, Va., last Friday. Perhaps he didn’t really mean what he said. Or perhaps — as is often the case with people — when unanchored from a prepared text he revealed what he…
1776 is a number with great resonance for Americans, but not one you expect to be featured on a British government website. But there it is, on the home page of the United Kingdom’s Department of Education: “As of 1 April 2012, there are 1776 academies open in England.” Academies, as you might expect, mean…
LONDON — The best view of London’s Olympic Park is from the picture windows at the top floor of the John Lewis department store in the vast Westfield Stratford mall five miles east of the Tower of London. It’s not the London tourists usually see. Westfield Stratford is an upscale American-style mall, and the sleek…