Perhaps it's the sweet California air, but the pervasive (though not universal) pessimism in biopharma these days is really bumming me out.  Consequently, I'd like to discuss three potential responses to difficult industry problems.

Successfully translating scientific discoveries requires a sense of urgency, which some disease foundations seem to have, and many big pharmas appear to need. Patients waiting expectantly for medical research to produce important new cures are finding bad news almost everywhere they turn.

Japan's economic performance has largely been written off over the past two decades. It shouldn't be—reform could build on the country's strong fundamentals.

The battle continues over the translation of "The Second Sex," by Simone de Beauvoir. But the truth is that the book is painful to read in any language, including French.

A real disagreement about the appropriate role of art.

The following is an English translation of El Nacional's interview with AEI fellow Roger Noriega, who told the Venezuelan newpaper that its government is deeply involved in the drug trade but he has "never heard of a witness who is in a better position to bear witness to the criminal activities of dozens of officials in the highest levels of that government."

"They do that because they were born that way."

If you say that about homosexuals, you are tolerant and realistic. If you say it about blacks, you are racist (unless you're black yourself). If you say it about women, you may or may not be sexist, depending on who is manning...

The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible has received only muted celebrations in the English-speaking world.