GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX RANKINGS 2006 (2005) 1: Switzerland (4) 2: Finland: (2) 3: Sweden (7) 4: Denmark (3) 5: Singapore (5) 6: United States (1) 7: Japan (10) 8: Germany (6) 9: Netherlands (11)...

We got back from our South American trek. Quite illuminating. It’s the furthest south I’ve been on the earth and it was cool to see the moon “upside down”, with the dark “seas” flipped...

Went to Machu Picchu – it is as extraordinary as I had imagined. Missed our Amazonian jungle connection – me and Lisa got a dose of some nasty parasites. Next stop – Buenos Aires.

Unless the assassination target is prominent, or the number of victims rises to at least the high single digits, such events barely rate a mention in Western news reports. Yet the most reliable estimates...

Day 2 of my malaria prophylaxis medication, using the apparently psychoactive Lariam/mefloquine drug that can result in psychosis and “suicidal ideation” in a minority of users. I noticed a slight affect on balance and...

Back from Florida, an interesting place. From what little I could see, most of the state seems to be composed of condos, fake pirate ships, strip malls, and bait shops. There is a lot...

Evo Morales, who won Bolivia’s presidential election on vows to end a U.S. campaign against coca growing, stepped up his criticism of American anti-drug policies on Monday, accusing Washington of using drug fighting efforts...

A detention center in Baghdad operated by Interior Ministry special commandos [contained] 13 prisoners who had suffered abuse serious enough to require medical treatment, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday night. An Iraqi official...

[US investigators described] an extensive criminal network involving North Korean diplomats and officials, Chinese gangsters and other organized crime syndicates, prominent Asian banks, Irish guerrillas and an alleged ex-KGB agent … One of the...

We put 150,000 people outside their homes in Fallujah. If you remember in Jordan, the bomber said that the reason she became a bomber was because two of her relatives were killed in Fallujah....