Independent voices from the TWT Communities
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had some harsh words of wisdom for the eurozone's 3.6 million unemployed youth: Relocate to where the jobs are.
It may be the best result by a Cuban star since the great world champion Jose Raoul Capablanca departed the scene: Cuban GM Lenier Dominguez Perez, a solid but not spectacular player on the elite scene, took sole first earlier this month at the FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Thessaloniki, Greece.
GIBRALTAR
At its birth, economist soothsayers predicted a short life for the euro. For once, the economists might well be right.
American GM Gata Kamsky came up just short of a remarkable double this week, blundering in a level position Monday against Italian GM Fabiano Caruana in the final round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki, Greece, to allow Cuban GM Lenier Dominguez Perez to pass him for the tournament title.
After a long weekend, let's go with a couple of really short games. In an age of vast game databases, computer-aided study and 25 move-deep opening theory, it's remarkable how even the world's very best players can get themselves into trouble before the game has barely begun.
The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a new case on the intersection of religion and government in a dispute over prayers used to open public meetings.
There's a new dish that's been crafted in several Hill offices: the Congressional Omelet. It's a fairly simple recipe — scramble a bunch of eggs and mix them with a hefty helping of bureaucratic molasses.
A top Greek official on Wednesday warned of a "widening gap" in the eurozone that separates financially stable countries such as Germany from their southern European partners that are struggling to keep up.
Our European cousins are just now figuring out that ditching their marks, francs, liras and drachmas to join the eurozone may not have been such a hot idea after all.
Pressure is mounting on the United States to ratify the reform of the International Monetary Fund, which the Obama administration unsuccessfully submitted for congressional approval last month. Congress should think twice before passing the reform - importantly because its thrust consists of doubling the amount the United States will owe the IMF - also known as the "quota."
The number of people who are jobless in the 17 nations that comprise the eurozone rose by 33,000 in February, and now more than 19 million are out of work, Eurostat statistical agency reported.
Many are warning that the United States could become the next Greece. There is no need to look across the ocean to see a poorly governed area that is deep in debt and crumbling. Just look to Detroit.
There is a deal in place that will bail out the government of Cyprus — but only after extracting more than $5 billion from bank depositors and plunging the economy into uncertainty. It virtually guarantees the island nation will stay in the recession that has been plaguing it for the past six quarters.
Money that's been trapped in Cyprus banks for the last two weeks could begin to cross the Atlantic and flood the American banking system starting Thursday when banks on the European island reopen, one banking expert predicts.
