Germany, with the help of the European Central Bank, has achieved a level of dominance in Europe it hasn’t enjoyed since World War II. It is to that period, and a bit earlier, that it might look for lessons on how to save a troubled European project. The rapid fall of euro-area governments in recent days demonstrates the enormous influence Germany and the ECB have gained over sovereign nations. By withholding the money needed to restore confidence in struggling countries’ finances, they have hel

Jamie has felt terrible pain in his stomach for a few weeks. So he squeezes some time out of his hectic schedule and knocks on the door of the regular clinic near his place. After undergoing 20 minute-long endoscopy, he staggers to a seat opposite the doc, and find himself hearing the words, the very words breaking his dizzy body into tiny splinters ... “You have gastric cancer, I’m sorry, it’s terminal...”After that, Jamie’s battle for life begins, leaving no stone unturned to catch even the la

Soaring student debt is a problem that only Congress can answer. Until it acts, students and their families will keep falling deeper into debt.For years, state support of higher education has dropped drastically, pushing tuitions up. At the same time, most American families have seen their incomes shrink, forcing them to borrow more and more if they want to send their kids to college. It’s no wonder the total amount of money Americans owe for higher education is now more than what we owe on cred

The White House decision to back a California-based maker of advanced solar panels with a $535 million loan guarantee in 2009 looks seedier by the day. By all appearances, this deal and subsequent debacle had more to do with campaign cash and hoodwinking voters than it did with green energy.Solyndra Inc. burned through its loans in just two years, filed for bankruptcy and threw its employees on the street.If the story stopped there, it would be bad enough. But a trail of emails trickling out ove

Samantha Power used to be best known for her tour-de-force book, “A Problem From Hell,” in which she correctly accused the United States of willfully ignoring genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and elsewhere.“Despite graphic media coverage,” she wrote, “American policymakers” are “extremely slow to muster the imagination to reckon with evil.”Now Power sits in the Obama White House, a senior staffer on the National Security Council. She’s watching along with everyone else in Washington as Syria

During the worldwide depression of the mid-1930s, the poet and Islamic modernist Muhammad Iqbal, often called Pakistan’s spiritual founder, wrote a poem dramatizing the inadequacies of Western political and economic systems. Democracy and capitalism had empowered a privileged elite in the name of the people, Iqbal felt. But he was not much fonder of Marxism, which was then coming into vogue among anti-colonial activists across South Asia and the Middle East: But what’s the answer to the mischief

Both in the real world and in the corridors of power, the consensus is that the congressional supercommittee will fail to compromise this week on how to close the country’s multi-trillion-dollar federal budget deficit and, as a result, a series of cuts, totaling $1.2 trillion, will automatically kick in. Many people believe this failure to act will short-circuit what little hope exists for an economic recovery. And it will be yet another demonstration of the inability of our political parties to

Salmon, once a pricey delicacy, is now an affordable staple at supermarkets and sushi restaurants everywhere. For that, we can thank fish farms. They produce 70 percent of the salmon eaten by consumers, who savor its subtle texture and rich flavor. Medical researchers say the fatty acids in salmon might help prevent cancer and heart disease. So it was troubling that researchers over the past few weeks may have found an infectious disease known as salmon anemia in wild fish in British Columbia. L

If we call the 20th century the age of physics and chemistry, the 21st century will be the age of biotechnology. Since Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick discovered the DNA double helix in 1953, biology has made great progress. Nowadays, so-called biotechnology can clone a life form in addition to manipulating genes. Since the first cloned sheep Dolly came into being in 1996 in Britain, also in Korea, a cloned cow Youngrongie and a cloned dog Snuppy have been “born” in succession.Moreover, K

Drunk any Kool-Aid lately? Or maybe you accused someone else of doing it? If so, congratulations, you’re right in step with one of the nation’s most popular idiomatic trends. A snappy, fruit-flavored way of referring to someone who unquestioningly embraces a particular leader or ideology, “drinking the Kool-Aid” has become a staple of self-righteous public discourse.Bill O’Reilly is fond of the expression, as is Washington Times columnist Marybeth Hicks, whose new book “Don’t Let the Kids Drink