With control of Congress at stake in next week’s midterm elections, political observers and polling data both suggest Republicans have a strong chance of retaking the House, while the fight for the Senate is considered extremely competitive. The election betting markets, however, see less ambiguity, already essentially handing the House speaker’s gavel to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and giving Republicans about a two-thirds chance of controlling the Senate.
These are data points hungrily consumed not just by campaigns and political analysts but also by a growing population of gamblers who study the races and attempt to make a profit by picking winners, not unlike bettors at horse tracks or Las Vegas-style sports books, or even day traders watching the stock market rise and fall. Read More...
The political geography of Israel and the Palestinian territories has been changing for more than a century. British imperial control, wars, Jewish settlements and Israeli occupation have greatly shrunk the Palestinian people’s land area, while Israel has expanded its footprint. Both Palestinians and Israelis see the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as their own, and Christians, Jews and Muslims all consider parts of the land sacred. Read More...