From the NYT: There is little doubt that “warheads on foreheads,” in the macho lingo of intelligence officers, have been disruptive to the militants in Pakistan, removing leaders and fighters, slowing movement and sowing dissension as survivors hunt for spies who may be tipping off the Americans. The Pakistani government considers the drone strikes a [...]

Nine percent of the student body voted in this week’s Michigan Student Assembly elections. Nine percent. Compare that to the 22.7% of Detroit voters that showed up to vote in this November’s mayoral election. Keep in mind that after the special primaries and run-offs needed after the resignation of former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, this was [...]

The economy saw a slight improvement today. Here are a few reacts from economic pundits: Paul Krugman says the news isn’t actually that great. In fact it’s bad news: The fact remains that realistic projections show unemployment staying disastrously high for many years. The chart above is from the minutes of the Fed’s Open Market [...]

Editor’s note: Evan Johnson, a senior majoring in history with a focus on Russia, will be contributing to The Conversationalist with posts on world affairs and military technology. From the FT: “The World Bank and Beijing are in discussions about setting up low-cost factories in new industrial zones in Africa to help the continent develop [...]

Via Andrew Golis I see that Time Inc. (publisher of Time and Sports Illustrated) has a new way of reading magazines: –Daniel Strauss

After many rumors over the past year or so, it was announced today that Comcast has finalized a deal to buy out NBC Universal. The $13.75 billion deal raises many questions and worries about the future of television: it’s virtually unheard of to have a cable provider owning such a large amount of content (Comcast [...]