Boston Globe (November 4)
“The last barrier to Westernization has fallen in China.” The event was marked by the centennial meeting of the International Psychoanalytical Association in Beijing. The popularity of Freudian analysis shows the extent of globalization. In a country where all were once equally impoverished, “China’s nouveau riche are eager to explore an inner world of coded dreams and repressed urges.”
Tags: China, Freud, Globalization, Psychoanalysis
Economist (November 4)
First elected prime minister in 1994, Silvio Berlusconi has become the longest serving leader in the G8. He has proved a shrewd fighter, weathering numerous scandals and crises. For Italy, however, his extended reign has created “a comedy that has gone on too long.” The Economist believes change is needed: “what Mr Berlusconi really offers is not stability but stagnation. Far from steering Italy skilfully past the many dangers that confront it, his government has become almost totally paralysed.”
Tags: Berlusconi, G8, Italy, Stagnation
New York Times (November 2)
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with China’s President Hu Jintao to discuss several issues including climate change. The New York Time’s criticizes Mr. Ban for being “shamefully silent on one critical issue: China’s poor human rights record and its unjustified imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo,” who won a Nobel Peace Prize this year. Mr. Ban should hold China to its responsibilities as a signatory of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Tags: Ban Ki-moon, China, Hu Jintao, Human rights, Liu Xiaobo, U.N.
Washington Post (November 2)
Whenever unemployment is high, the party in power is “going to take a beating.” It comes as no surprise that President Obama’s Democrats suffered major losses in the election. The Post writes “We believe Mr. Obama’s first two years were better than he’s getting credit for.”
Tags: Democrats, Obama, Unemployment
The Independent (November 1)
Nestlé, Heinz, General Mills and other companies are receiving praise for being ahead of the regulators. They have voluntarily committed to eliminating the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in their products. BPA is used to strengthen packaging, ranging from bottles and cans to computers and medical equipment. Many scientists suspect BPA is an endocrine disrupter linked to cancer, heart disease and other ailments. BPA remains unregulated. The U.S. views BPA as a “concern,” especially to children, but the linkage has not been proven. The official position of the European Food Safety Agency remains that BPA poses no risk to humans.
Nestlé, Heinz, General Mills and other companies are receiving praise for being ahead of the regulators. They have voluntarily committed to eliminating the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in their products. BPA is used to strengthen packaging, ranging from bottles and cans to computers and medical equipment. Many scientists suspect BPA is an endocrine disrupter linked to cancer, heart disease and other ailments. The U.S. views BPA as a “concern,” especially to children, but the linkage has not been proven and BPA remains unregulated. The official position of the European Food Safety Agency remains that BPA poses no risk to humans.
Tags: BPA, General Mills, Heinz, Nestle, Regulators
Time (November 1)
Fareed Zakaria, Time’s Editor-at-Large, notes that when he leaves the U.S. to visit India, it appears “the world has been turned upside down. Indians are brimming with hope and faith in the future.” In contrast, the mood in the U.S. is “sour. Americans are glum, dispirited and angry…. The can-do country is convinced that it can’t.”
Telegraph (November 1)
Morrison’s, the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain, will give 10% of new jobs to the vulnerable unemployed, including the homeless and addicts. The chain plans to open a number of new stores and hire at least 10,000 people. Altruistically, the plan will help vulnerable individuals get back on their feet. Strategically, the supermarket believes “it can gain the most loyal and hard-working employees” by hiring individuals “who need a hand-up rather than a hand-out.”
Tags: Morrison's, UK, Unemployed, Vulnerable
New York Times (October 28)
In 2005, Congress decided public land should be used to build enough solar, wind and other sustainable energy projects to power 5 million homes. Yet, almost nothing was done. Real action is now being taken, but the U.S. has “fallen far behind Europe and China, which are investing heavily in the industries that manufacture wind turbines and solar panels.” The New York Times calls on President Obama and the Congress to pick up the pace because “no industry has greater potential to create jobs than clean energy.”
