These 3 Big Elections May Determine Europe’s Fate

On January 1, Lithuania became the newest member of the Eurozone, joining a club of eighteen other nations in a currency union that has troubled Europe’s economy for the past several years. Unfortunately, the celebration over Lithuanian membership will be short lived, because 2015 will prove to be a turbulent year. Indeed, three important elections pose an existential threat to the European Union as we know it. Read the rest at The National Interest.

How the Polish Buried Their Vampires

This article was originally posted on RealClearScience.

Belief in vampires was a global phenomenon. Cultures all over the world once believed that certain humans wander the Earth after their death, engaging in acts of decidedly anti-social behavior. Though most sophisticated scholars know that wooden stakes and sunlight work best, each culture had invented various methods of dispatching those vampires permanently into the afterlife. Continue reading