Four days of mindless violence and anarchy swept across England in early August, taking five lives and engulfing 121 locations. Why? These were not, as some insinuated, “race riots”—even though the initial spark came from the police shooting of a well-known London gang member. Nor were they due to social deprivation, police brutality, political discontent, or government cuts to balance the budget. Neither were they directly related to joblessness or economic despair or poverty. After all, many places did not riot!  So, what is the explanation?

A highly successful German businessman, Hans-Olaf Henkel, recently called for the eurozone to split in two.  The monetarily strong “northern zone” would comprise Germany, Austria, the Benelux nations, Finland, and possibly Ireland.

On August 17, 1961—exactly 50 years ago, this Wednesday—East German laborers laid the first concrete blocks of what would soon be called the "Berlin Wall" The wall, cutting West Berlin off from surrounding East Germany, came to be seen as a symbol of Communist tyranny, and for more than a generation the German people grew used to its troubling presence, separating them from old friends and family and marking a moral and philosophical divide as well as a physical one.

The Associated Press recently announced, “Hundreds of thousands of Somali children could die in East Africa’s famine unless more help arrives, a top U.S.

This week’s London riots have spread menacingly across the nation to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.  Youthful rioters burned vehicles and buildings and looted shops and businesses. More than 100 police were injured and more than 1,000 youths were arrested—some as young as age 11!