The single-mother revolution shouldn’t need much introduction. It started in the 1960s when the nation began to sever the historical connection between marriage and childbearing and to turn single motherhood and the fatherless family into a viable, even welcome, arrangement for children and for society. The reasons for the shift were many, including the sexual revolution, a powerful strain of anti-marriage feminism and a “super bug” of American individualism that hit the country in the 1960s and

What happens when a brutal regime gets replaced by an alternative and largely unknown entity? Exhibit A: Libya.Shortly after Moammar Gadhafi bumped his head on a bullet, the “rebels” took over and promptly declared Sharia law. It’s a start ― I guess. Though a start of what, no one’s really quite sure. This week, a new set of Libyan “rebels” has emerged to replace the old ones, seizing control of Tripoli airport and diverting flights. It’s just like the game Whack-a-Mole: Knock one down, and five

The word culture is defined by the Merriam Webster Medical Dictionary as the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thought, speech, action, and artifacts and depends upon the human capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. I chose the above definition because a disease exists and we ought look for the cure. The main symptoms are obvious: racism, xenophobia, and ignorance. However, I don’t wish to simply eliminate the symptoms. I want to play doctor

Proclaiming its fate to be strongly tied to Asia, the United States unveiled on Saturday detailed plans to build and strengthen its military presence in the region. Time will tell whether the growing U.S. presence becomes a positive force for the peace, development and prosperity of Asia, or simply heightens the tensions in a region already convoluted by an arms race.Asia is increasingly caught in the paradox of prosperity: as countries become more prosperous, they spend proportionally more of t

Bahrain is tiny ― an island kingdom off the Saudi coast with a half-million citizens and as many expatriate workers. It’s also a strategic spot that hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet. And the turmoil there says a great deal about the sectarian forces at work in the Mideast and how conflagrations could be avoided with judicious leadership. This week, Bahrain’s government announced measures to ban a Shiite opposition party that has played a major role in anti- monarchy protests, apparently for minor techni

The question has to be asked: For how long will the Philippine government maintain its “strategic silence” vis-a-vis the civil conflict in Syria, which gets bloodier with each carnage reported, the latest being the killing of 108 people, including 49 children and 34 women, in Houla on May 25? The death toll in the 14-month-old conflict is reported to have climbed past 10,000, but the Philippines continues to keep to a see-hear-and-speak-no-evil mode. In fact, it was the only one absent when the

As China is a large country with a rising influence on regional and world affairs, it is no surprise that China should have been in the spotlight at the three-day Asia Security Summit that concluded on Sunday in Singapore.Beijing hopes such regional platforms will promote dialogue and cooperation to safeguard regional peace and stability.Still some nations sought to use the Singapore forum, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, to try and sow seeds of discord and call for outside intervention i

The government plans to promote a new category of “microcompact” vehicles, the first new category of vehicle to be established under the Road Transport Vehicle Law since 1963. These new cars will likely appeal to elderly people and others who will use them for shopping or visiting places near their homes. Most of them will be electric and much more environmentally friendly than current automobiles.Larger than “Category 1” motorcycles that have an engine displacement of 50 cc or less, but smaller

Now that Mitt Romney is certain to be the Republican nominee for president, it’s time to examine his foreign-affairs policies and background.In short, he has no significant foreign policy experience. None at all. And his policy pronouncements have been disturbing.He called President Barack Obama “naive” for announcing plans to pull troops out of Afghanistan. Well, Romney is the one who is naive, and that’s the problem. Given all the dilemmas the U.S. faces worldwide, we don’t need another presid