GlaxoSmithKline announced it will not patent its new drugs in countries that are the poorest of the poor, such as Afghanistan, Rwanda and Cambodia.

I wonder, though, whether this apparent magnanimity will have any practical effect. I don't think there are generic drug factories in countries such as Afghanistan, Rwanda and Cambodia. If the countries such as India that actually make generic drugs are not covered, if GSK continues using patents to prevent the manufacture of generic drugs in those countries, this gift will turn out to be an empty gesture.

The reason this problem exists is that the World Trade Organization treaty requires India to allow patents on drugs.

The real solution for this is to abolish the World Trade Organization.

Senator Warren called for replacement of the government's system for collecting college loan payments.

Using private companies to do the government's work is inviting fraud. Each indirection in the chain reduces accountability, and we have seen the effects here.

Nuclear Power Plants Are Pre-Deployed Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Meanwhile, accidents are still a danger. The Indian Point nuclear plants, near New York City, are among the most accident-prone in the US.

If an accident occurs, it may make New York City unsafe to inhabit, decades before the rising seas would do so. However, evacuating 5 million people from New York and surrounding suburbs would be impossible as well as unsustainable.

Xi Jinping's grab for total power over China is compelling him to develop an Erdoğan-like sensitivity to criticism, which he implements with Erdoğan-like overt repression.

North Korea kidnaped people from various countries in the 1970s to force them to train spies.

The Japanese ruling party calls itself the "Liberal Democratic Party" but it is really a conservative party.