Sometimes, there is no escaping the old neighborhood.

Ralph Peters thinks President Obama will grovel his way across the Middle East.

If President Obama wants to put pressure on Israel about building West Bank settlements, he may earn some good will from the Arabs, but he won't stop the settlements from expanding. This article explains why. In the end, the Palestinians cannot give up their idea of a 'right of return", and the Israelis will not give up their settlements, or Jerusalem. Therefore, no political solution is possible. Historically, when two peoples are unable to resolve their differences through negotiation or commerce, they resort to violence. The violence ends only when one of two things happen, either one side or the other is wiped out (or defeated so utterly that they accept the other side's conditions for peaceful coexistence), or both sides become so exhausted by the violence that they now agree to settle their differences by making the necessary concessions. In the Israeli-Arab confrontation, while there has been decades of violence, neither side is, as of yet, exhausted enough by the violence to make the necessary concessions. So, I expect more violence.

Here is some basic information about the General Motors bankruptcy. David Brooks thinks it will result in a quagmire. Eugene Robinson also does not see a happy ending.

The economy is in recession, so crime is up, yes? No.