lifestyle leader

-The 'Tobin tax' is suddenly back en vogue; the FT offers a brief introduction.

-The NYT establishes a connection between the growth of independent media and increasingly open religious debate in Egypt.

-The Economix blog at the NYT asks whether congressional earmarks for public universities, surprisingly the largest recipients of so-called 'government waste', should be considered 'pork'.

-FP Passport offers an unconventional perspective on the al-Megrahi deal, and makes a convincing argument in favor of realpolitik. This short piece is blogging at its best: cutting through the noise to reveal the underlying complexity of international relations.