Society & Culture

World copper prices are tumbling again and fingers are pointing at China's ailing financial system.

It appears that Argentina and Venezuela have more in common than meets the eye. They were both Spanish colonies, have a majority Catholic population, once enjoyed a vibrant and growing economy—and they are both falling headlong into chaos, bankruptcy, civil unrest and massive poverty.

In 1999 Venezuela was ranked 99 out of 178 countries for overall economic freedoms by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. It is now listed as 175, slightly nudging out Zimbabwe, Cuba and North Korea.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is choking a $45 billion agricultural industry with a three-inch baitfish called the Delta Smelt by denying precious water to San Joaquin valley farmers.

While we still see the condemnation of cigarette smoking, we have witnessed the legalizing of marijuana for recreational use in 2 states and for “medical” use in another 16.

The Obama administration announced that it will allow wind turbines to kill or injure two American icons, the endangered bald and golden eagles. This can now be done without the fear of prosecution for up to 30 years.

The term genderqueer has appeared out of thin air and is supposed to mean that a person is attracted to male or female, both or neither. It is a self-identifying label that also means that one is neither male nor female but an androgynous hybrid or rejection of both. If this seems confusing—it is.

What do California and Venezuela have in common? State-controlled or regulated resources.

With more than 54 years of consistent economic failure to their credit, Cuba’s communist dictators, the Castro brothers, are now about to show the world how to do business by building a new deep-sea port in the small town of Mariel, 30 minutes from Havana.