Don’t expect Russian oligarchs to come to Russia’s aid, because according to Masha Gessen, there aren’t any.

Falling oil prices are leading to a plunge in consumer prices.

Charles Hill introduces readers to Batman, Turkey.

The Spanish government demanded that Google pay news services for their linkage and excerpts. Google News left, and now Spanish newspapers want to revise the policy.

Israel gets a lot of criticism for searching pregnant Palenstinian women, but they have a reason to do so.

This is one free speech issue on which I side with the government. Of California, no less! I have no opinions on a law requiring porn actors to wear condoms, but it seems to me that you can prohibit things in the making of art, provided a rationale, even if you shouldn’t be able to prohibit the appearance of such things. Having someone pretend to be sixteen while having sex on camera versus putting an actual sixteen year old in porn.

A couple of sales later, a Texas plumber’s Ford F-250 pickup ended up fighting in a war in Syria. {Fun comments here}

Before our movie studios started nixing anything with North Korea as the bad guys, it made North Korea the villain to avoid antagonizing the Chinese.

Single-payer in Vermont is dead. Avik Roy and Sarah Kliff. Vermont was actually a poor test case. I’d like to see it tried somewhere. I hope someone in California campaigns on it.

A sign of the times: When a German MP who is a critic of Russia dies of a heart attack, they feel the need to perform an autopsy. (Nothing untoward was discovered.)

Amit Singh looks at the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and asks what about Hawaii? I find the comparison lacking, but do believe that of all our various states, Hawaii should get a more full hearing.

Vulture wonders how North Korean films portray Americans.

Can a wife with dementia consent to sex with her husband?

How a police cruiser dashboard camera saved a man from prison and put some cops in hot water.

Don’t blame PJ O’Rourke. They made him write about Lena Dunham.

As Shinzo Abe sails to re-election despite a faltering economy, where are the other parties? Incidentally, I feel pretty vindicated in my comments on this OTB thread regarding the ability of parliamentary systems in allowing prime ministers to call snap elections.